LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Death Sentences Upheld for 2 in Officer’s Slaying
The state Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the death sentences of two Pacoima men convicted of murdering a police officer during a routine traffic stop in 1983.
In a 6-1 ruling, the court found that Kenneth Gay and Raynard Cummings were fairly tried for the slaying of LAPD Officer Paul Verna, who was shot to death in Lake View Terrace after he pulled the men over in a stolen car. Gay and Cummings were on parole and implicated in 13 violent robberies throughout the San Fernando Valley at the time, and prosecutors contended that the two were afraid Verna would arrest them.
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