Rathbun’s Brother Denies Altering Photos

The brother of murder suspect Charles Rathbun categorically denied Friday that he altered photographs that purportedly show the nude torso of the late model Linda Sobek.

In testimony that is pivotal to Rathbun’s defense, attorney Robert Rathbun also told a Torrance courtroom that he would not fabricate testimony under oath in order to help his brother, who faces life in prison if he is convicted of strangling and sexually assaulting Sobek.

The Virginia attorney, who is under investigation for his role in recovering and developing photos purportedly taken by Charles Rathbun and presented in his trial, returned to the witness stand as attorney Mark Werksman concluded his defense of Rathbun, 39.

Again, Robert Rathbun testified that he and his girlfriend recovered five rolls of undeveloped film in March near the site in Angeles National Forest where Charles Rathbun has acknowledged burying Sobek. Charles Rathbun has said he accidentally killed Sobek during a struggle that followed an argument and, in a panic, discarded anything linking him to her. Her death, he testified, followed a brief sexual encounter where he photographed her lower body nude.

But prosecution experts have testified that double-exposed photographs showing the nude torso of a woman do not match those taken during Sobek’s autopsy. That testimony, and the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the film, have led authorities to question Robert Rathbun’s story.

On Friday, Werksman sought to remove any doubts about Robert Rathbun’s credibility.

“Would you manufacture or fabricate or alter evidence . . . in order to assist your brother in this case?” he asked Robert Rathbun.

“No, I would not,” Robert Rathbun said.

But prosecutor Steve Kay later discounted Robert Rathbun’s story and promised to give a more complete rebuttal during closing arguments Monday.

Testimony ended with the final witness for the defense, Norman Perle. During questioning by Werksman, Perle testified that he is a forensic expert on recorded evidence and video imaging. And comparing Sobek’s autopsy photos with those of the nude female torso, Perle said, he concluded that they were “one in the same person.”

But under cross-examination by prosecutor Mary-Jean Bowman, Perle acknowledged that he had no expertise in medical anatomy and that one double-exposed photo he described as showing the front thigh of a woman actually showed her buttocks.

Outside court, Werksman dismissed Perle’s slip as insignificant, noting that Perle had quickly corrected his error. “The prosecution has denounced every defense witness as a liar or a fraud,” Werksman said. “Why should they do anything different with Mr. Perle?”