D.A. Will Not Seek Death in Photographer’s Trial

The district attorney’s office has decided not to seek the death penalty in the pending murder trial of photographer Charles Rathbun, accused of sexually assaulting and murdering Hermosa Beach model Linda Sobek.

The decision, disclosed Thursday, means that the 38-year-old photographer faces a maximum of life in prison without the chance of parole if he is convicted on the charges being brought by prosecutors: first degree murder and sexual assault. Conviction of a lesser charge would mean a significantly lighter sentence.

Although the district attorney’s office did not disclose the reasons behind the decision, defense attorney Mark Werksman suggested that prosecutors had little choice because their case was too weak.

“They cannot prove the special circumstances [allegation of sexual assault] and they know it,” Werksman said. “They must have doubts about whether the sex that they think happened [between Rathbun and Sobek] occurred by force and without consent.”

Before Rathbun was bound over for trial in February, his attorney had planted the notion that whatever happened between his client and Sobek before her death was consensual. Werksman also said that the past of the slain 27-year-old model would be as relevant to the case as the history of his client. And Thursday, Werksman said that his contention that Sobek consented to sexual involvement with Rathbun will be a “material issue” at trial.

“The evidence . . . is going to show that Rathbun did not force himself upon her sexually,” Werksman said.

But prosecutor Steve Kay rebutted Werksman’s claim, insisting his office will prove that Rathbun sexually attacked Sobek before killing her and burying her body in a shallow, rocky grave in Angeles National Forest. Rathbun led authorities to the grave Nov. 25.

Rathbun contends that he accidentally hit Sobek with a sports utility vehicle when the two were on a photo shoot in the forest.

Although he is not a member of the district attorney’s panel that decides which cases warrant death penalty proceedings, prosecutor Kay theorized that the decision had less to do with the particulars of the crime than it did other factors.

“If I had to guess,” Kay said, “I would say that the two overriding factors were that [Rathbun] had no prior convictions and that he demonstrated remorse.”

The date for starting Rathbun’s trial may be set at his next court appearance May 17 in Torrance.