VENTURA : Expedite Molestation Trial, Prosecutor Says

An 86-year-old Ventura man whose child-molestation case has been put on hold because of his health should stand trial as soon as possible, a prosecutor said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Carol J. Nelson argued in Ventura County Superior Court last week that Albert L. Timms’ condition “is not very serious at this time” and that the victims deserve their day in court.

“This is a man with a history of molesting generations of girls,” Nelson said. “These victims have a right for this case to go to trial.”

Timms is accused of molesting three girls under age 10 between 1987 and 1989 at his home. The defendant, who has won nearly a dozen continuances in his year-old case, appeared in court in a wheelchair and hooked up to an oxygen tank.

Timms’ attorney, James M. Farley, told Superior Court Judge James M. McNally that his client is still too sick to withstand a trial. “Mr. Timms is under the same risk,” Farley said. “He has a serious heart condition.”

McNally ruled in February that Timms was too ill to withstand a trial after a doctor testified that a pacemaker would improve Timms’ health and allow him to endure a trial. But Timms has refused to have a pacemaker implanted, and McNally said he cannot order Timms to have the operation.

Nelson said Timms is well enough to drive a car, so he should be well enough to stand trial.

“The defendant bears the burden of showing he can’t go to trial, and he hasn’t done that,” she said. “All he’s shown is that he’s an old man who doesn’t feel well.”

McNally scheduled a June 11 hearing to take evidence that Timms can withstand a trial.