PORT HUENEME : Juror Tells of Link to Defendant’s Family

The foreman of a jury that convicted a Port Hueneme man of first-degree murder in the shooting of a Simi Valley man testified Thursday that he did not remember until after the trial that he once knew the defendant’s family.

In sometimes testy exchanges with the defense attorney, James Trisdale of Camarillo denied that he lied to get on the jury so he could convict Timothy Chrestman of murder and robbery in the March 4, 1994, death of Andy Anderson in the mountains above Ojai.

Defense attorney Steve Pell is basing his request for a new trial on Trisdale’s presence on the jury. Although Pell has suggested that Trisdale might have had a bias against the Chrestman family, he has not presented any evidence to support such a bias.

Trisdale testified it was not until after the trial that he realized that his son and Chrestman’s older brother, Billy, were friends in high school. Trisdale’s son, Timothy, lived briefly with the Chrestman family in 1992 and James Trisdale later took the defendant’s parents to lunch to thank them, according to testimony.

Trisdale testified he did not recognize the Chrestman name when he heard it in court because he did not know the last names of his son’s friends. He also said he did not recognize Billy Chrestman and his parents when the three testified during the trial.

“If I had recognized them I would have said something,” Trisdale said. “I would have hoped they would do the same thing.”

Billy Chrestman said in a sworn declaration that he recognized Trisdale during jury selection and was surprised the juror did not disclose his relationship to the Chrestman family.

The hearing is scheduled to resume Monday. If the request for a new trial is denied, 20-year-old Timothy Chrestman faces a sentence of life in prison without parole.