Judge Refuses to Alter Charges in Pastor’s Slaying

A San Fernando Superior Court judge refused Thursday to dismiss or reduce charges against two college students from Northridge who are accused of killing a Pacoima pastor after a quarrel over a minor traffic accident.

In a case which attracted wide attention from religious and community leaders in the Pacoima area, Philip J. Dimenno and Dana L. Singer, both 19, are charged with first-degree murder in the July 28 shooting of Carl White, 54, pastor of the Apostolic Temple Church in Pacoima.

The charges carry the additional allegation that the slaying occurred during a burglary, meaning the suspects could face the death penalty if convicted, but prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek their execution.

Police said the two teen-agers went to White’s Chatsworth home to persuade White not to report a car accident he was involved in with Dimenno the day before.

They also planned to take back a paper on which Dimenno had written his name and address.

An argument broke out and Singer shot White while Dimenno stood by, police said.

The two youths were arrested three days later after trying to use White’s credit card at a Reseda tire store.

On Thursday, Harold Greenberg, an attorney for Dimenno, asked Judge Howard J. Schwab to dismiss the murder charge against his client. Dimenno is charged under the felony-murder law that makes those who participate in a crime, such as burglary, responsible for any death that occurs during the crime.

Greenberg argued that Dimenno and Singer did not have any intent to steal from White when they went to his house to discuss the traffic accident.

He called the theft of the credit card an afterthought.

Singer’s attorney, Gerald L. Chaleff, also told Schwab that the lack of intent to steal or harm White when the two teen-agers first entered his house also required the judge to dismiss the special allegation of murder in the course of a burglary, which would allow his client to avoid the death penalty if convicted.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth Barshop said there was strong evidence that the suspects had criminal intent before knocking on White’s door.

Barshop noted that the suspects parked more than a block away and brought a gun with them.

“They went there with a weapon,” Barshop said. “The question becomes, ‘Why?’ . . . Obviously, to use force to obtain the property from Mr. White or to kill Mr. White.”

Schwab said a jury should decide the issue of the suspects’ intent and refused to alter the charges.

He tentatively scheduled the start of a trial for June 14.