Lab Technician Testifies Man She Tested Wasn’t Yacobozzi

A lab technician who drew blood from a man identifying himself as attorney William Yacobozzi Jr. testified Tuesday that the patient she administered to was not Yacobozzi, who is accused of falsifying evidence in a paternity suit.

“No, I do not see him,” Nancy Rafi, a former technician at Long Beach Memorial Hospital, said when Deputy Dist. Atty. Wallace J. Wade asked if the man she tested on March 5, 1990, was present in the courtroom.

When he asked if she recognized the silver-haired Yacobozzi, she said, “Yes, I’ve seen him before in court.”

Yacobozzi, a prominent Newport Beach attorney, faces charges of conspiring to obstruct justice, falsifying evidence and committing perjury during the course of a paternity suit filed three years ago by Coleen Walters, the daughter of a former client. If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison and lose his law license.

The blood test, taken late in the morning on March 5, 1990, would have been Yacobozzi’s second test to determine paternity. When the results of a previous test, also conducted at Long Beach Memorial Hospital in June, 1988, strongly indicated that he was the father of Walters’ son, he requested a more precise and complex DNA test. Prior to both tests, fingerprints and photographs were taken of the subject.

Rafi said she later noticed a discrepancy in the photos taken in each test. She discussed it with an associate, who later notified a hospital supervisor.

Rafi said that she did not doubt the man’s identity while administering the test, but that she remembered afterward that he appeared extremely nervous.

Rafi also explained in detail the various steps the laboratory takes to ensure the authenticity of blood samples. Polaroid photographs are taken of the subjects. The photos are dated by the technician, signed by the subjects and later verified, she said.

Defense attorney Grover Porter questioned how carefully lab procedures are controlled.

Porter indicated that the Polaroid photos had no date or time, implying that they could have been taken at any time. He questioned the lab’s security and raised the possibility that someone might have switched photos. Rafi said the person would have had to work in the department to have access to the file.

Rafi was the only witness questioned on the third day of the trial, which continues Thursday.

Walters’ paternity suit was settled out of court in February and both sides have declined to discuss details of the settlement.

Yacobozzi, who is married and has a daughter, has denied having sexual relations with Walters.