Former Prosecutor Not Asked to Testify

When all was said and done, attorney Kevin DeNoce never took the stand Thursday in the huge Sheriff’s Crime Lab case.

After much speculation, accusation and legal argument erupted last month over whether the former prosecutor had breached his defense duties while working as one of the lead attorneys defending 620 drunk-driving arrestees in the case, neither prosecutors nor the defense called him to testify.

DeNoce declared a conflict of interest last month after prosecutors subpoenaed him to testify about a conversation he had with Dist. Atty. Investigator Michael McKendry.

Defense attorneys have been loath to have DeNoce testify and possibly reveal privileged information to prosecutors. When Judge Steven Z. Perren offered the opportunity to question DeNoce in court, neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys spoke up.

Instead, the defense team plowed forward with testimony from Deputy Dist. Atty. John Cardoza about a memo that Cardoza and DeNoce co-authored in July 1996, hinting at problems that the crime lab was having in complying with state laws.

Defense attorneys hope evidence from Cardoza and other Crime Lab personnel will persuade Perren to throw the whole Ventura County district attorney’s office off the case for misconduct.

But before testimony began, Perren said in a rare outburst that he would never have allowed DeNoce to serve on the defense team had he known of the conflict of interest.

“Mr. DeNoce had no business being in this case,” Perren said.

“His loyalties were to Mr. Cardoza, his loyalties were to the D.A.’s office.”