‘Follow-Home Bandit’ Trial Begins : Justice: The defendant is charged with attacking and robbing eight Studio City women after following them home from the supermarket.

Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of a man prosecutors say is the “follow-home jewelry bandit” who robbed eight Studio City women last year.

In each case, prosecutors say, Claude Davis Jr., 38, attacked the women in their garages or on their front lawns after following them home from supermarkets at the intersections of Ventura Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon Avenue, and Ventura and Laurel Canyon boulevards. Davis, who faces a maximum sentence of 30 years if convicted, is on felony parole for robbery, his attorney said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeff Ramseyer said that in the preliminary hearing, each victim identified Davis as the assailant who robbed them during a string of crimes between May and December, 1988.

Ramseyer said Davis was a gentlemanly dresser who wore suits and ties and carried a briefcase. He lulled his victims by asking them for directions, and as they tried to help him, Ramseyer said, he hit them, usually knocking them down.

Among the victims was Joann Puls, 62, who drove up to her Studio City home in October, 1988, to find a neatly dressed man standing in front of her garage.

Puls testified in the preliminary hearing that Davis said he needed directions to a construction site in the area. Puls said she drew nearer to examine a piece of paper in the man’s extended hand and he lunged and punched her in the face with a clenched fist, knocking her on her back.

He sat on top of her, grabbed her by the throat and pulled off three diamond rings, including her wedding ring, she said. When she protested, he threatened to kill her.

“They had no reason to suspect anything was wrong until he hit them,” Ramseyer said. Usually, the robber made off with diamond rings estimated to be worth $10,000 to $30,000, and many of the women suffered broken bones.

Davis, of Van Nuys, was arrested with his sister-in-law Karen Davis on Jan. 11, near a supermarket at Ventura and Laurel Canyon boulevards, after a special police team saw him in front of the market.

“He was not doing things that were conducive to shopping,” Los Angeles police Detective Bob Searle said. “He looked like he was picking out his next victim.”

When police searched his car, Searle said, they found black gloves and a briefcase matching the description of those used by the robber.

Although some of the victims said a woman drove the getaway car, no charges were filed against Karen Davis because none of the victims could identify her.

Defense attorney Martin R. Gladstein said he could not comment on the case.

The trial is expected to last less than two weeks.