Armored Car Bandit Given 14-Year Term

A 28-year-old man was sentenced to 14 years in prison Tuesday after a jury convicted him of gunning down an armored car guard during a foiled robbery attempt in Glendale.

After three days of deliberation in the second trial of Alfred Giordano, a Pasadena Superior Court jury found him guilty of attempted robbery and attempted murder in the Dec. 31, 1987, shooting that left security guard Howard White paralyzed. But the jury rejected an allegation that the shooting was premeditated, thereby reducing the maximum penalty from life in prison to 14 years.

Several hours later, Judge Terry Smerling issued a $100 fine and sentenced Giordano to the maximum 14 years, citing “the carefully planned nature of the robbery . . . the viciousness of the shooting . . . the racial overtones.”

White, a 34-year-old father of two who is black, was not present for the verdict or the sentencing.

“Certainly the robbery was premeditated,” Smerling said as Giordano’s mother and father looked on. “And incredibly serious injuries were suffered by Mr. White. It could very well have been a murder case.”

It was a quick and clear-cut ending to an unusual and sometimes bizarre court saga.

Both Alfred and his brother, Peter Giordano, 33, were charged in 1988 with attempted murder and attempted robbery after White was shot outside a check-cashing service on San Fernando Road. Deputy Dist. Atty. Jo Ann Glidden contended that Alfred, using a Uzi semiautomatic rifle, gunned down White and unsuccessfully searched his canvas bag for money while Peter, 33, drove the getaway car.

In a trial last May, no one could identify Peter Giordano as the getaway driver and he was acquitted. But three witnesses said they saw Alfred Giordano shoot White. Kimberly Giordano, Alfred’s wife, testified that he told her how he had committed the crime and that he laughed about White’s injuries and his race.

But Kimberly Giordano also told jurors that Officer Joseph Jimenez, the Glendale police investigator in the case, had sex with her and coerced her to testify against her husband. White, when asked to point out his assailant, looked at the brothers, who were sitting together, and pointed at Peter Giordano. When asked by the prosecutor if he was sure, White said that he had meant to point at Alfred Giordano and had made a mistake.

Eventually, a mistrial was declared on the charges against Alfred Giordano after jurors deadlocked 11 to 1 in favor of conviction. The dissenting juror, prosecutors have said, was swayed by the testimony of Jeanette Russell, a witness who said Alfred was visiting her at the time of the shooting.

Russell repeated the same testimony in the second trial, which began Feb. 15. But jurors said Tuesday her testimony was discounted. It was mainly the testimony by Kimberly Giordano that convinced them of Giordano’s guilt, they said.

During the second trial, Kimberly Giordano reluctantly corroborated much of her earlier testimony about her husband’s confession to her.

“We went with the three eyewitnesses, and by and large, everyone seemed to buy Kimberly’s story,” said Richard McKinney, a dialogue writer for the TV show “L.A. Law.”

“No one for an instant believed Jeanette Russell” because she did not come forward with the alibi until long after Alfred Giordano’s arrest, McKinney said.

Alfred’s defense attorney, Robert Swanson, contended it was Peter Giordano, not Alfred, who attempted the foiled heist and shot White. During the trial, he called Peter Giordano into the courtroom several times, asking White and others if they were certain it was Alfred and not Peter who assaulted him.

Jurors were not swayed.

“The defense brought in a lot of strategies to throw the jury off, but there was never any doubt,” said Pamela Welsh, a teacher from Montrose.

Several jurors, however, said they thought the police investigation in the case had been “unprofessional” and “sloppy.” They said they believed that Jimenez had a sexual relationship with Kimberly Giordano and set up reward payments in exchange for her testimony.

Swanson said Tuesday he requested the speedy sentencing so that he can begin filing an appeal. He indicated he will challenge several of Smerling’s rulings.

Despite Swanson’s objections, the judge ruled in both trials that Kimberly Giordano be allowed to testify against her husband. Although a 1983 divorce was set aside last year by an Orange County court, Smerling ruled that marital privilege--allowing spouses to refuse to testify against each other--did not apply in the case.