Judge Rejects ‘Outrageous’ $850,000 Fee in Bomb Case

A San Fernando Superior Court judge Friday refused to grant investigators’ fees that he estimated at $850,000 to an attorney for a North Hollywood man charged in the bombing deaths of two Los Angeles policemen, terming the request “outrageous.”

Judge John H. Major said he would approve only $25,000 in additional investigators’ fees, bringing the total, including money already spent, to at least $165,000. A deputy district attorney called that an extremely high amount.

Major told defense attorney Pierpont M. Laidley at a pretrial hearing that Laidley’s request for the higher sum was “outrageous and far exceeds what is reasonable and necessary. You are asking for basically about $1 million in investigative fees.”

Laidley is court-appointed counsel for Donald Lee Morse, 37, who is charged with murder in the deaths of Detective Arleigh McCree, 46, commander of the police bomb squad, and Officer Ron Ball, 43, a squad member. They were killed Feb. 8, 1986, when a pipe bomb found in Morse’s garage exploded as they tried to disarm it.

Major calculated the cost of projected investigations proposed by Laidley at $850,000. Laidley disputed the judge’s figures, however, saying he was requesting only about half of the judge’s estimate.

The defense has already spent $190,000 in investigators’ fees, Major said, a figure Laidley also disputed. Laidley said that to date he has spent about $140,000.

Faraway Witnesses

Laidley said the money is necessary to pay private detectives to interview witnesses, some of whom live outside California or overseas, as far away as Africa, and to gather background information about Morse. He said he wants defense investigators to talk to all 350 witnesses who he said have been interviewed by police.

Many hours of investigation are necessary, Laidley said, because “the district attorney has said that if he can prove the element of terrorism, he may seek the death penalty.”

However, the judge noted that the prosecutor has said he will not seek the death penalty.

The prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Sterling E. Norris, could not be reached for comment. Another prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth A. Loveman, said it is rare for investigation fees on a case to exceed $5,000.

“I’ve been with the district attorney’s office for about 15 years and I have never heard of the investigation of a single case costing” as much as $850,000, Loveman said.

“It sounds absurd to me. I would think $100,000, even for a complicated case, would still be on the high side.”

Outside court, Laidley said he would appeal the ruling. He would not reveal details of his request to the judge, such as what information investigators would be looking for and where they would expect to find it.

Morse’s trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 4.