Officer Questioned on Events at Tuffree Home

Lawyers for Daniel Allan Tuffree began cross-examining a colleague of slain Simi Valley Police Officer Michael F. Clark on Monday, asking why police did not leave Tuffree’s property when he told them to.

In response, Sgt. Anthony Anzilotti testified that he and Clark were only trying to check on Tuffree’s well-being when gunfire erupted from the man’s house, killing Clark.

Anzilotti’s cross-examination came after he described how SWAT officers rammed an armored truck through Tuffree’s fence to rescue the wounded Clark and prosecutors played a tape of frantic radio calls by Clark’s colleagues as they rescued him amid gunfire still bursting from Tuffree’s house.

But the cross-examination of Anzilotti took up most of the day’s session.

Attorneys for Tuffree, a former Chatsworth High School teacher, tried to pick apart Anzilotti’s reasons for prolonging an encounter with Tuffree instead of backing off when it became clear that the man was coherent and was ordering them off his property.

Clark and Anzilotti went to check on Tuffree at his home after a mental health worker told police that he had been using alcohol and Valium and had stopped answering his phone, Anzilotti testified.

They knocked on Tuffree’s door repeatedly, Anzilotti said, and dispatchers phoned his house several times before the officers decided to enter his fenced-in yard and peer through his windows.

Anzilotti said he was checking the back of the house when he heard Clark strike up a conversation with someone inside.

Tuffree was “cordial, but uncooperative” as Clark asked him to come outside to talk, Anzilotti said.

Deputy Public Defender Howard Asher questioned Anzilotti’s motives for choosing to keep Clark and himself in harm’s way even after it appeared that Tuffree was not unconscious, suicidal or suffering the kind of medical emergency that would require police help.

“Wouldn’t you agree that someone taking alcohol and Valium doesn’t automatically mean there’s a medical emergency?” Asher asked.

“Correct,” Anzilotti responded.

On further cross-examination, Anzilotti said that he did not contact dispatchers to find out whether Tuffree had a prescription for Valium or to learn how much he had ingested before proceeding.

Later, Asher asked why Anzilotti kept himself, Clark and Officer Michael Pierce at the Tuffree house even after he heard Tuffree saying in a slurred voice from inside, “Go away.”

Anzilotti admitted that he kept his team in place even though he believed Tuffree was under the influence of alcohol and drugs, suspected that the man had access to a gun and worried that he could be emotionally unstable.

He testified that he and Clark needed more time to assess Tuffree’s condition. They still had not determined whether Tuffree might be suffering from an overdose--accidental or intentional--of Valium and alcohol, Anzilotti said.

“I did not consider leaving,” he said.

*

Asher also questioned Anzilotti’s ability to identify the caliber of a gun by the noise it makes when fired. The defense has argued that Clark fired first and Tuffree shot back in self-defense, while prosecutors say Tuffree fired first.

Anzilotti had testified that he heard one muffled gunshot, then a dozen louder shots before he rounded the corner of the house to see Pierce diving into a firing position.

But under cross-examination, Anzilotti also said he had never fired his gun on the job nor been fired upon and that he usually wears ear protection while practicing with his own gun at the firing range.

Testimony is scheduled to continue this morning.