Chemist Testifies in Traffic-Argument Killing : Gunshot Traces Found in Car Driven by Restaurateur

A forensic chemist testified Thursday that gunshot residue was found inside the red Isuzu Trooper allegedly driven by Roger Sing Ip on the night that a Pacific Beach teen-ager was shot to death after a traffic altercation.

Mark Germani, who works for an Illinois forensics laboratory, said he lifted 27 samples of microscopic particles from areas on and around the front passenger seat of the vehicle. Each sample contained traces of lead, antimony and barium, which are unique to gunshot residue, Germani testified.

However, under tough questioning by defense attorney Elisabeth Semel, Germani said he could not testify how the residue was deposited in the vehicle. Deputy Dist. Atty. Gregg McClain never asked Germani if the residue resulted from a gunshot fired from inside the vehicle.

But Semel got Germani to testify that the residue could have been blown inside the vehicle if it were parked near a firing range, or it could have been taken into the vehicle by someone who had the residue on his hands or clothing.

Nearly Collided

Ip, 34, and part owner of the China Inn restaurant in Pacific Beach, is charged in the shooting death of Kurt Von Yokes, a Mission Beach High School freshman, on July 10. Yokes, 15, and two other teen-agers were returning home after drinking beer at another friend’s house and an outing at Kate O. Sessions Memorial Park when, according to testimony, they nearly collided with a Trooper allegedly driven by Ip.

According to testimony at Wednesday’s hearing, Yokes drank less than a can of beer, while the two other teens each drank three to four cans of beer.

Michael W. Endsley, 19, identified Ip as the driver of the Trooper on Wednesday, on the first day of the preliminary hearing. Debbie Lichty, 18, who was driving the car in which Endsley and Yokes were riding, testified that Ip was driving erratically on the night of the incident and almost hit her car.

According to court testimony, Ip and the teen-agers exchanged words, and Ip followed them to Endsley’s house. Endsley and Yokes got out of the car and were standing at the end of the driveway when Ip allegedly fired a single shot, fatally wounding Yokes.

On Wednesday, Semel made it clear that she would probably challenge Germani’s credibility as an expert witness if Ip is ordered by Municipal Judge H. Ronald Domnitz to stand trial. Germani said it was the first time he had ever testified as an expert witness in a criminal trial and added that he had been researching gunshot residue for only 18 months.

In addition, Semel got Germani to acknowledge that he could not establish how long the residue had been inside the vehicle when he examined it Aug. 14. Before finishing her questioning, Semel got Germani to reiterate that the residue was deposited by “some unknown means.”

Semel also asked him how much he was being paid for his services. Germani said his firm is charging the county $100 to $150 an hour for his services and $500 to $600 for analyzing each sample of gunshot residue.

He said he has already worked 20 to 30 hours on the case and might end up working up to 100 hours before it is over. It is not known how many of the 27 samples of residue might have to be analyzed before the case is resolved.

The preliminary hearing is expected to end today.