Famalaro’s Attorneys Seek Suppression of All Evidence

SANTA ANA — Attorneys for John J. Famalaro, who is accused of killing a Newport Beach woman and storing her body in a freezer for years, began a vigorous attempt in court Tuesday to have all of the evidence in the high-profile case thrown out.

Famalaro, 39, is accused of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and bludgeoning 23-year-old Denise Huber after her car broke down on the Corona del Mar Freeway in June 1991. Famalaro, a former resident of Orange County, was arrested in July 1994 after authorities found Huber’s body in a freezer in a stolen rental truck parked in his driveway in Prescott, Ariz.

Yavapai County Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph DiGiacomo, who discovered the truck, underwent forceful questioning by Famalaro’s attorneys, Leonard Gumlia and Denise Gragg, who contend that the deputy entered and searched the property illegally. They want all evidence resulting from that search suppressed.

“In a broad sense, we’d like to keep the police in Orange County or anywhere from walking onto your property uninvited and without a warrant and climbing onto your vehicles to see if they are stolen,” Deputy Public Defender Gumlia said outside court. “More importantly, we’d like to suppress the evidence in this case.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher Evans, who repeatedly objected to Gumlia’s aggressive line of questioning, maintains that the search was legal.

“We had a search warrant and the seizure was lawful,” Evans said as he left court.

The hearing before Superior Court Judge Kathleen E. O’Leary is expected to last for several days.

Famalaro has pleaded not guilty to the crimes, for which the prosecution is seeking the death penalty.

The trial, which has been postponed for more than two years, is now scheduled to begin on Feb. 3 before Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan. Ryan will be assigned the case because of a conflict in O’Leary’s court calendar.