SIMI VALLEY : Language Question Delays Murder Trial

The murder trial of a Simi Valley man, scheduled to begin Tuesday in Ventura County Superior Court, was postponed after his attorney questioned his ability to understand English.

Luis Roberto Benavidez, 39, is accused of fatally shooting an unidentified man whose skeletal remains were found in February in a Simi Valley ravine. The victim has not been identified, and an autopsy showed that he died at least two years before the bones were discovered.

Investigators have disclosed little about the case. But the prosecution’s evidence includes 4 1/2 hours of tape-recorded interviews with Benavidez, conducted entirely in English.

On Tuesday, however, his attorney, Ira S. Chester, told Judge Lawrence Storch that he wants to hire a linguistics expert to testify on whether Benavidez understood what was going on during the police questioning. Chester said he also wants Benavidez to have an interpreter during the trial.

Storch granted the request and postponed the trial until June 22, over the objections of Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald C. Glynn.

“I find it incredible that an attorney could confer with his client for two months and suddenly decide that the guy doesn’t understand English,” Glynn said. He said that during pretrial motions on other aspects of the case last week, Benavidez testified in English for about an hour.

Chester could not be reached for comment.

Benavidez is being held in Ventura County Jail on $250,000 bail.