Saw Report of Threat : 2 Jurors Dismissed in Police-Killer Case

Two jurors were dismissed Thursday from a death penalty trial in Van Nuys Superior Court because they saw news reports that the defendant, convicted of killing an off-duty policeman, had threatened to kill the prosecutor and several witnesses in the case.

Judge Judith M. Ashmann took the action after questioning jurors sitting in the death penalty phase of the trial of Daniel S. Jenkins. Two jurors told Ashmann they were aware of reports Wednesday that police had obtained permission to search for a purported “death list” compiled by Jenkins, said Howard R. Price, who represented Jenkins at the trial.

Jenkins, 33, was convicted July 27 of shooting to death Detective Thomas C. Williams, who had testified against him at a robbery trial in 1985. Jenkins also was convicted of attempting to kill George Carpenter, the robbery victim, to prevent him from testifying at the robbery trial.

Price said two jurors, one of whom was an alternate, said they learned that police believe Jenkins may have compiled a “death list” of potential victims, including the prosecutor and several witnesses against him.

Jurors Replaced

The jurors were replaced by others from a pool of alternates who sat through the trial, Price said. The jury is deliberating whether to recommend a sentence of death or life without parole.

Ashmann, who barred the public from her questioning of jurors, declined to comment on the case. Prosecutor Richard L. Jenkins, a deputy district attorney who is not related to the defendant, also declined to comment.

According to a sworn statement filed by police Aug. 13 and made available Wednesday in Los Angeles Municipal Court, authorities obtained a warrant to search the home of Jenkins’ wife, Kathy Smitham, for the list of potential victims.

The list, according to the statement, contains the names of four potential victims: prosecutor Jenkins; Jeff Bryant, a former associate of Daniel Jenkins; Dave Bentley, a former defendant in the murder case, and Michael Shaw, who is serving a one-year sentence in County Jail for possession of a controlled substance for sale.

2 Were Witnesses

Bryant and Bentley testified against Jenkins at the trial.

Police said they sought the warrant after Shaw reported that he saw a spiral notebook containing the death list on two occasions when Smitham visited him in jail.

Smitham visited Shaw to pressure him to pay a $65,000 debt that Jenkins believes Shaw owes him, according to the police statement. The debt stems from a 1983 or 1984 hijacking of a truck containing television sets, which Shaw claims was never carried out, the statement says.

Shaw said Smitham told him during her second visit that Jenkins would kill Shaw or his wife and children unless the debt was paid, the statement says.

Smitham could not be reached for comment and it could not be determined Thursday whether she was in police custody.

Shaw said Smitham told him “preparations have already been made” for killing the people on the list, the police statement says. It does not mention how Jenkins may be planning to carry out the death threats.

Shaw said he saw Jenkins in jail and Jenkins asked him to get the license plate number of Byrant’s car, the statement says.

Jenkins, who defended himself during the penalty phase of his trial, pleaded for leniency from the jury deliberating his sentence. As a roomful of spectators, including Williams’ widow looked on, Jenkins said he prays for Williams’ family. Williams’ 6-year-old son witnessed his father’s murder at a Canoga Park day-care center.

“At the end of your . . . life journey, if you vote to execute me, when it comes time to meet your maker, what’s your closing argument going to be to Him?” Jenkins asked jurors Monday in his closing statement before death penalty deliberations began. Jenkins is being held without bail.