VAN NUYS : Trial Opens in Fatal Shooting at Park

A Van Nuys gang member fired one shot at a card player in a park and then shot the victim twice more in the back after he fell to the ground, a prosecutor alleged in court Wednesday.

Trial opened for Lanell C. Harris, 26. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the shooting of 51-year-old Julian Contreras in the Van Nuys Recreation Center on Aug. 7, 1991.

Prosecutors have alleged that Contreras, who was playing cards with a group of men, was killed while Harris and a second man were robbing them, a special circumstance charge that could send Harris to the gas chamber.

In opening statements Wednesday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels said Contreras “made the mistake of a lifetime” when he brushed away the hand of one robber who was trying to take his wallet.

Harris fired one shot into his chest when Contreras made that move, the prosecutor said.

“The defendant shot him twice more when he was lying on the ground on his stomach,” Samuels said.

The case went unsolved for two months, until the Los Angeles City Council offered a $15,000 reward, prompting an informant to call authorities within three hours and give Harris’s name.

The informant, and two other men, will testify that Harris bragged about killing a man who refused to hand over his money, Samuels told the jury.

The jury will also hear testimony from five witnesses who will identify Harris as the gunman, she said.

Harris is also charged with stabbing 35-year-old Marta Rodriquez at a Winchell’s Donut House on Jan. 3, 1991, as her teen-age daughter looked on. The victim’s daughter is the only witness, but she will identify Harris as the assailant, Samuels said.

Defense attorney Michael Gottlieb told the jury that it will be difficult to determine what exactly happened in the park that night because the witnesses all have different stories.

“It’s like a good ‘Columbo’ mystery,” Gottlieb said. “Whodunit--that’s what you’re going to have to decide.”

The defense plans to present evidence that Harris was not near the park the night Contreras was shot. Harris is not expected to testify.