OJAI : Witness in Murder Case Cites Drug Use

By GARY GORMAN

May 2, 1991 12 AM PT

A key witness in a murder trial acknowledged Wednesday that he has taken LSD about three times a week for the past 21 years, but he denied that it has had any residual effect.

“Do I look brain-fried?” Billie Joe Gregory asked his interrogator, attorney Steven D. Powell, as he testified in Ventura County Superior Court.

Gregory has admitted firing the shots that killed Ron Brown, 22, one of several would-be armed robbers who burst into an Ojai party early Jan. 1 and were overcome by Gregory and other guests. Gregory has said he shot Brown to prevent him from slitting the throat of another party guest with a knife.

Frank Stoddard, 28, and Timothy Antonelli, 24, are on trial for armed robbery and murder on the theory that their actions led to Brown’s death.

Powell, who is representing Stoddard, has tried to portray the bearded, long-haired Gregory as a “drug-crazed maniac” who killed Brown needlessly. Through his questions, Powell has implied that Gregory’s memory of the shooting is clouded by drug abuse and that self-interest has motivated him to change his account of the shooting.

Gregory admitted taking LSD about 12 hours before the shooting but said it had worn off. He said he also took methamphetamine a few hours before the shooting. He agreed with Powell’s description of him as someone who likes to fight, and acknowledged that the methamphetamine probably enhanced his violent tendencies that night.

“It’s a good thing too,” Gregory said.

Powell asked why Gregory had not mentioned until this week that Brown had a knife--a detail that bolsters Gregory’s claim that he shot Brown to save his friend. Gregory said his memory had improved since Jan. 1.

He acknowledged, however, that he has been concerned that he might be charged in the shooting. “How often do you get to kill somebody and not be charged for it?” he said.

“I have a lot of remorse,” Gregory said. “I think about it every day and at night when I sleep.”

The trial resumes today before Judge Charles R. McGrath.