For Rollins, Happy Days Are Still a Long Way Off : Jurisprudence: Teen-age track star convicted of murder awaits sentencing in Kern County.

Offord Rollins IV, a high school All-American track athlete, doesn’t think about defending his triple-jump title at next month’s State meet anymore.

Rollins is incarcerated at the Lerdo Detention Facility while he awaits sentencing after being convicted of first-degree murder in Kern County Superior Court four weeks ago.

“The hardest part of being in jail is waiting for the day I’ll be set free,” Rollins said Thursday. “That will be the only happy day here.”

Rollins, 18, was found guilty of killing his former girlfriend, 17-year-old Maria Madera Rodriguez of Shafter, on Aug. 2, 1991.

While awaiting sentencing, Rollins has been trying to get a new trial with the help of his attorney and a private investigator. Because he was convicted of first-degree murder with use of a gun, he could be sentenced to 28 years to life in prison, with the possibility of parole only after two-thirds of the sentence has been served.

Rollins, among the top five high school triple jumpers in the country as a junior at Wasco High last year, was supposed to be sentenced Friday by Superior Court Judge Len McGillivray. Sentencing was postponed, however, until June 5 so the judge could review a lengthy motion for a new trial filed Wednesday by defense attorney Timothy Lemucchi.

Deputy District Atty. Lisa Green also requested a continuance so she could review and file opposition responses to the motion.

Green appeared angry by the motion for a new trial. After McGillivray granted the continuance Friday, Green stormed out of the packed courtroom and said she had no comment on the case.

Most of those in the courtroom were friends and family members of Rollins’, who have vehemently protested the verdict for the past month. Many wore white T-shirts with “Justice for Rollins” printed on the front.

The “Justice for Rollins” campaign has grown so large that an office has been set up in downtown Bakersfield. More than 300 members appeared at a recent rally to protest the verdict.

Most of the group’s members say Rollins did not receive a fair trial because he is black. The judge and 12-member jury were all white.

Lemucchi says the case was marred by racial overtones and that he believes the chances for a new trial being granted are good.

Lemucchi’s motion claimed the prosecution used a racially motivated strategy to convict Rollins, citing the unfair dismissal of two potential black jurors and lack of a clear motive in the case.

But if McGillivray is to grant a new trial, his decision could be based on the testimony of alternate juror Peggy Traylor.

Traylor says the jury did not follow proper procedure by discussing the case before deliberation began. She said several of the jurors started discussing the evidence as early as the second day of the trial.

“Six of the jurors that I discussed the case with expressed opinions that they had made up their minds in favor of guilt prior to the conclusion of evidence,” Traylor said in a signed affidavit.

Traylor also said that one juror commented that, “all the black witnesses are lying,” before Rollins’ testimony.

Lemucchi said no other juror contacted by his staff would sign a declaration to back up Traylor’s statements.

In Rollins’ first interview since the verdict, he said his life was threatened by Mexican inmates at Lerdo and that he was removed to a private cell and isolated from other inmates for his own protection on April 17. He says he feels safer now that he has little contact with the inmates. He spends 23 hours a day in a private cell, the remaining hour used for showering, watching television and using the telephone.

Rollins is allowed to have two visitors twice a week for 30 minutes each visit. He sits behind a wall of glass and must talk to guests over a telephone. All conversations are recorded.

“Some of the guys in here are hard on me,” Rollins said. “They all know who I am because of the trial. Some make fun of me because I cried when the verdict was read. But all of this will only make me stronger.

“It’s hard for a young man like me to get a grip on what’s happening sometimes,” he said. “But I have great strength because in my heart I know that I am innocent. That is what keeps me going.”

Rollins said he was so surprised by the verdict that he was in a state of shock the day he was convicted. He said he barely remembers being taken to Lerdo.

He spends his days reading the Bible and writing letters. He said he receives between five and seven letters a day, all of which have been opened before they reach his hands. There is little physical exercise, and Rollins appears to have lost weight since the trial.

“All of this makes me think about the free days I did have,” Rollins said. “I wished I would have taken fuller advantage of them. But I know this is not over. I’m still very optimistic. When you’re innocent, it doesn’t matter what people say.”

Rollins, who would have graduated from Wasco High next month, acknowledges that he cries occasionally, especially at night. But he said he is willing to wait for the day when he can put all of this behind him.

“I often ask myself if I’m being tested as far as I can,” Rollins said. “But I think I can go farther because I have faith. I have to be the last one to have faith in myself, because when that’s gone there’s nothing.”