State Uses ‘Son of Sam’ Law for First Time

State prosecutors went to court Friday for the first time under California’s “Son of Sam” law to prevent criminals from cashing in on books they write or other self-promoting enterprises.

Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren said his office sued over earnings from a book by Death Row inmate Rodney Alcala and a 900-number phone line featuring former Billionaire Boys Club leader Joe Hunt. Money recovered from the convicted killers will go to the families of their victims, Lungren said.

Alcala last year published “You, the Jury,” in which he says he is innocent in the 1979 killing of a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl.

Callers to Hunt’s 900 number, at $2.99 a minute, could hear him describe life in prison after his conviction for killing a Beverly Hills con man who cheated him in a commodities-trading scheme.

“Mr. Alcala and Mr. Hunt are collecting profits from their crimes at the expense of their victims,” Lungren said at a Capitol news conference.

The attorney general said that he had no exact income figures, but that in the Alcala case, “we believe it’s in the tens of thousands of dollars,” and that Hunt “never does things in a small way.”

However, one of Hunt’s defenders said that the 900 number operated only for a few months and that Hunt received no profits. The line was established by a juror who voted to acquit Hunt in a second murder case, which ended in mistrial.

“Apparently (Lungren) did not dial the number. He could have saved the money from a lawsuit,” said Edwin Berry of Sacramento, who worked as a consultant on Hunt’s case and believes he is innocent.

The Billionaire Boys Club was a group of young men from wealthy Southern California families who used their inheritances to bankroll risky investments.

California passed a law in 1983 that allows confiscation of money that convicted felons make from describing their crimes. It had never been used before this week.

The statute was based on a similar law passed in New York in response to reports that publishers were offering large sums to “Son of Sam” serial killer David Berkowitz for the rights to his story.

In 1991, the Supreme Court overturned New York’s law, saying it violated constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech.

California rewrote its law last year, and Lungren said he believes that the constitutional questions have been resolved.