L.A. Police Chief Ordered to Testify

Los Angeles Police Chief Willie Williams has been ordered to testify in Ventura County Superior Court as a witness in the case of a Reseda man charged with murder for his role in a deadly gunfight with an elite police unit last year.

Defense attorneys for Robert Wayne Cunningham, 33, served Williams with a subpoena last week.

Gary Windom, a Ventura County senior deputy public defender, said Williams was at the scene of the shootout for 2 1/2 hours after two officers in the Los Angeles Police Department’s Special Investigations Section (SIS) were shot.

“The defense was not given any information on what he said or heard,” Windom said Tuesday. “I think it is appropriate that he be called.”

But Deputy Los Angeles City Atty. Debra L. Gonzales said she has no idea why Williams had been sought to testify, and asked the judge presiding over the murder case to quash the subpoena.

Rather than argue the matter in court, however, Superior Court Judge Steven Z. Perren told Windom to file papers explaining the subpoena and postponed a hearing until next week.

Outside the courtroom, Windom said LAPD officers may have conducted improper interviews after shooting. He declined to elaborate.

Windom has previously said he planned to investigate the actions of the SIS unit as part of his defense. The special police unit has drawn criticism for allowing suspects--while under surveillance--to commit crimes before arresting them.

On the night of June 26, 1995, officers in unmarked cars followed Cunningham and Daniel Soly, 26, of West Hills from Los Angeles County to a Newbury Park liquor store and deli.

They watched the pair rob the store at gunpoint, authorities said, adding that it was not until the men reached their car that the police moved in, prompting a gunfight that left Soly dead and Cunningham paralyzed from the waist down.

Cunningham was charged with murder and several related charges in connection with the shooting because Soly had been killed.