Defense Disputes ‘Mastermind’ Theory as Lies

Key prosecution witnesses implicating William Clinton Clark as the mastermind of a botched computer store robbery that ended in murder are liars trying to avoid time behind bars, the defendant’s attorney told jurors Thursday.

“He’s their ‘Get Out of Jail Free” card,” defense attorney Jack M. Earley told jurors, using a bright, gold enlargement of the Monopoly game card to make his point.

Earley also contended that prosecutors lack evidence to support charges that Clark, from jail, recruited his girlfriend to execute a Gardena woman who testified against him before the Orange County Grand Jury.

The trial, which began Wednesday, is the first Orange County case in recent history involving a defendant charged with killing a witness in retaliation.

The 42-year-old Los Angeles man is charged with both murders and faces a death sentence if he is convicted.

The prosecution alleges that Clark masterminded the 1991 robbery of a CompUSA store in Fountain Valley that ended in the death of Kathy Lee, a 49-year-old Garden Grove secretary shot in the head as she arrived to pick up her son from work.

He also is charged with murder for the 1994 killing of Ardell Williams, 22, who was shot in the back of the head as she filled out a job application form outside a Gardena business.

Prosecutors say others were responsible for firing the bullets that killed the victims, but contend Clark is equally responsible for murder under the law for his alleged role in planning the crimes.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Rick King spent much of Wednesday outlining a maze of evidence he told jurors will prove Clark is guilty of both crimes, including Williams’ testimony that she was with Clark in Fountain Valley about a month before the robbery when he indicated the CompUSA store would be his next target.

Earley, making his opening statements to the jury Thursday, said he intends to show the prosecution case is built on lies, focusing in particular on a Moorpark man linked to the robbery who is being granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.

The witness, Matthew Weaver, has contended he went to Fountain Valley thinking he was helping a friend move computer equipment, and didn’t know anything about the planned robbery.

But Earley told jurors the witness has made inconsistent statements to authorities and suggested race might be a factor in the case. Weaver was the only white suspect who was never arrested or charged in the robbery, Earley said. Clark and two other men since convicted of murder in the robbery, including his younger brother, are African American. His attorney also contended that his was the only African American face in the police photo lineup.

King has denied that race has anything to do with the case, and that Weaver was the first to come forward and offer to cooperate with authorities investigating the robbery-shooting.

Clark’s girlfriend, Antoinette Yancey, is awaiting trial separately on charges that she lured Williams to her death on the promise of a job interview. She also faces a possible death sentence.

Clark’s trial before Orange County Superior Court Judge Jean Rheinheimer is expected to last into July.