<i> Snapshots of life in the Golden State.</i> : A Fine Feathered Friend May Be Man’s Best Defense

In Santa Rosa, a public defender in a murder trial believes he can clear his client, thanks to the testimony of the crime’s only witness.

But he’s having trouble introducing testimony from Max the parrot.

A pet shop owner reported that after Max was put there in protective custody by sheriff’s deputies, the bird--supposedly mimicking the voice of the victim--blurted out: “Richard, no, no, no.” But the man on trial is not named Richard.

Defense investigator Gary Dixon said he wants to follow up on the bird angle because “it’s my job to find any exculpatory information.” He said he hasn’t had a chance to, uh, meet with the bird so he can test its veracity.

Defense attorney Charles Ogulnik was about to make reference to the African gray parrot’s utterances in open court when Sonoma County prosecutor Phil Abrams quickly objected and the judge put a halt to it. Abrams said he’s going to complain to the California State Bar about his adversary’s efforts to feather his case.

Pumpkin Time

Feeding the nation’s appetite for pumpkin pies, California produced more than 53,000 tons of pumpkins last year, valued at nearly $6.5 million. The state is second in the nation, after Illinois, in pumpkin production. Below are last year’s top eight pumpkin-producing counties and the produce’s value.

COUNTY TONS VALUE 1.San Joaquin 20,500 $2.6 million 2.Stanislaus 10,600 1.2 million 3.Sutter 14,241 487,300 4.Santa Clara 4,200 588,000 5.San Mateo 2,375 475,000 6.Riverside 1,123 146,900 7.Orange 210 39,000 8.San Bernardino 28 14,150

Source: California Agricultural Statistics Service

Compiled by Times researcher TRACY THOMAS

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More animal justice: In San Diego, meanwhile, a jury found that Bronson Johns was not guilty of biting a police dog.

Johns already was convicted of various charges after leading police on a low-speed, 65-mile freeway chase from Irvine to San Diego--which concluded with Johns’ confrontation with San Diego Police Canine Officer Faustus, a 9-year-old German shepherd.

At issue was whether, during his arrest, Johns tried to bite the dog, as the prosecution alleged.

The defense attorney said her client was simply opening his mouth in pain and was only trying to get Faustus to loosen his grip when he pulled the dog toward him.

Acquittal notwithstanding, Johns owes $32,000 in medical bills from the broken wrist and dog bites he sustained.

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Artistic license: So this will make gridlock more aesthetic: The Department of Motor Vehicles is now pitching its newest--and premium priced--license plates. The full-frame, multicolor “postcard” plate depicts the famous view afforded motorists entering the Yosemite Valley through the tunnel on Highway 41. The view Ansel Adams liked.

So far, more than 7,000 have been sold, including 5,000 in advance of last month’s debut. By comparison, the bestseller in the DMV’s growing catalogue of chic environmental plates is the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games edition, which sold more than 25,000.

The Yosemite plates cost $50 over and above the standard cost of car registration, and the proceeds are split between the state’s Environmental License Plate Fund and the Yosemite Fund, for the preservation and restoration of Yosemite. The new plates can be personalized, too--for $40 more. Like, GR8 VU.

The plates are being stamped out by the residents of Folsom State Prison, where the views are decidedly less spectacular.

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Walk that talk: He said he was a Harvard Law School grad who was now teaching law at Stanford, and he had no problem fitting in on campus as he befriended students like some Pied Piper.

He mingled at all the right parties, competently talked law and even dressed liked a professor. He wore jeans.

But when his picture didn’t appear in the annual law school faculty directory, he didn’t fare well under cross-examination by suspecting students.

So Stanford police were called in last week to banish yet one more homeless person from his campus refuge.

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Cutting-edge housing: Looking to rebuild? Cheap? In Hesperia, architect Nader Khalili is showing off his sandbag home, made of 1,400 earth-filled sandbags, two rolls of barbed wire to hold them together, and adobe wall covering (unless you want the barbed wire exposed so you can hang paintings).

Prices range from $500 for the starter kit to upward of $20,000 for the deluxe, 30-foot dome, complete with utilities and interior rooms.

Khalili, a consultant to the U.N. on emergency housing, and head of research for the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Santa Monica, designed the sandbag house as a cure for Third World housing needs.

Hesperia city officials, who had nothing in their codes under “sandbag homes,” say they’re amazed by its integrity; Malibu architect Eric Lloyd Wright, after viewing it, said it’s just the kind of organic architecture his grandfather, Frank, talked about, and engineering tests show it’ll hold up to earthquakes.

It’s naturally insulated and will withstand fires and floods, too: a Southern California home for all seasons.

EXIT LINE

“What I learned by watching the guys with the cigars . . . is that they align themselves with the powerbrokers.” --Alice Huffman, chief political strategist for the California Teachers Assn., on what she’s gleaned over the past 10 years: Sacramento’s most effective lobbyists are ones who smoke cigars.