Tuffree Waives Right to 2nd Jury Trial in Officer Slaying

As accused murderer Daniel Allen Tuffree formally waived his rights to a second jury trial Friday, the sister of the Simi Valley police officer he shot expressed anger that the former Chatsworth High School teacher is no longer facing the death penalty.

“People need to take responsibility for their actions,” said Meredith Clark, 27, standing in the courthouse hallway.

“He decided to kill a human being,” she added, fighting tears. “He decided to kill my brother.”

Appearing in Superior Court on Friday dressed in jail blues, Tuffree nodded his head vigorously and stated that he understood the agreement.

“Yes, I understand,” he said. “I agree. I waive my right to a jury trial.”

To ensure that the 49-year-old former schoolteacher was thinking clearly, Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter Kossoris asked Tuffree whether he was taking any medication.

“They have no impact on my body whatsoever,” Tuffree responded. “I had a mild dosage at approximately 7:30 this morning.”

Tuffree is charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Michael Clark, 28.

Clark was one of three officers sent to Tuffree’s home Aug. 4, 1995, after reports that Tuffree was taking Valium and drinking alcohol, and had stopped answering his phone.

After a six-week trial that ended in October, a jury deadlocked on the murder charge, forcing a mistrial.

At the time, prosecutors said they would push for the death penalty at a second trial. But they backed down after defense attorneys said they were willing to hold the second trial before a judge, rather than impaneling a new jury.

Tuffree’s case will now be heard by Judge Allan L. Steele in what is expected to be a much shorter trial, set to begin Jan. 6.

During the first trial, prosecutors argued that Tuffree intentionally killed Clark when he saw officers entering his backyard that afternoon.

Defense attorneys contended that Tuffree was a troubled, frightened man who fired in self-defense after Clark fired at him.

That theory outraged members of Clark’s family, who attended nearly every day of the six-week trial.

Although some relatives said they supported the district attorney’s decision not to seek the death penalty, Clark’s sister lashed out Friday after the hearing, directing her anger more at her brother’s alleged killer than at prosecutors.

She said she plans to attend the second trial, and said she wants Tuffree to take the stand and explain his actions.

“He intended to do this,” she said. “He did not allow any medical attention to come to that house to possibly save him [Clark].”

Kossoris said he still believes the murder case is worthy of the death penalty.

But he said prosecutors realized it could be difficult to get such a sentence after a majority of jurors from the first trial indicated they would not have voted for death even if Tuffree had been found guilty of first-degree murder.

“What a different jury would have done,” he said, “who knows.”