D.A. May Drop Charges in Garden Grove Cop Slaying

Citing a lack of evidence in a case intensely investigated for six years, prosecutors have told police they intend to drop charges against a man accused of slaying a Garden Grove patrolman, officials confirmed Thursday.

John J.C. Stephens of Buena Park has spent two years in Orange County Jail awaiting trial while investigators tried to bolster their case--one based largely on circumstantial evidence--surrounding the fatal shooting of Officer Howard E. Dallies Jr.

Stephens, 28, could be released within the next week if prosecutors follow through with plans to seek dismissal of the charges during a court hearing scheduled for Monday, said Garden Grove police Sgt. Mike Handfield.

Top Garden Grove police officials plan to meet with prosecutors in a last-ditch effort to keep the case alive.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office declined to comment before the Monday hearing. But one source familiar with the case said prosecutors are reluctant to head for trial without witnesses, forensic evidence or a murder weapon connecting Stephens to the killing.

Dallies’ murder while on routine overnight patrol stunned the county, in part because the killer left so few clues.

Police had little with which to unravel the mystery other than a witness who saw a motorcycle race from the scene and the 36-year-old officer’s dying words that described his killer: “White, male, young.”

Investigators considered Stephens a suspect soon after the shooting but didn’t believe they had enough evidence to arrest him until his alibi witness recanted.

The prospect of dropping charges against Stephens was welcomed Thursday by the suspect’s mother and attorney, who have long maintained his innocence. But it shocked and disappointed those who knew Dallies, particularly investigators.

“We’re devastated,” said Handfield, who supervised a task force that tapped Stephens as the prime suspect. “I’ve been on a roller coaster. We’re very disappointed, and at this point we have no immediate plans” to look for other suspects.

Investigators remain convinced that it was Stephens who left the nine-year police veteran to die after shooting him in the lower stomach, just below his bulletproof vest, on March 9, 1993. The officer didn’t have time to unholster his pistol, police said.

In the years that followed, a team of more than 40 investigators chased down thousands of leads, eventually compiling case files with more than 80,000 pages, Handfield said. Left with few strong clues, investigators resorted to some unusual tactics.

Stephens’ name was among the few that popped up repeatedly as a possible suspect, police said. Stephens, however, had an iron-clad alibi for the night of Dallies’ killing.

Unable to break the witness, police opted to use a virtually unheard of tactic. By this time, Stephens was serving a seven-year prison sentence on a burglary conviction. So police decided to place a bug in his cell. The plan failed, however, when another inmate discovered the electronic device.

Meanwhile, investigators discovered a new lead. Ballistics tests helped match the weapon used to kill Dallies with one used in an attack three months earlier on a Santa Ana security guard. The guard survived, but one of his legs had to be amputated.

The breakthrough eventually came, according to police, when investigators convinced Stephens’ alibi witness to recant. In July 1997, prosecutors charged Stephens with the murder of Dallies and the attempted murder of the security guard.

Dropping a murder case so long after the filing of charges is rare, but it might be only a temporary move, said Michael Brennan, a clinical professor of law at USC.

“The D.A. may be saying, ‘Let’s dismiss. Let’s try to get a better case and put it together. We don’t want to shoot ourselves in the foot right now. Let’s go out and work the case more,’ ” Brennan said.

Under double jeopardy, an acquittal prohibits prosecutors from refiling if investigators dredge up more evidence later.

Although they remained steadfast that they had the right man, investigators always acknowledged that their case was far from a slam-dunk. Many of the witnesses police were relying upon had questionable backgrounds, said Handfield. Some had served time in prison. Others had drug problems, he said.

“We never hid the fact that we were dealing with witnesses on this case who were drug dealers, who were criminals,” he said, adding that some were recanting statements they made to police.

Stephens’ attorney, however, insists the police have the wrong man.

“It’s pretty obvious that he’s innocent,” said Deputy Associate Defender Roger Alexander, who was not aware of the talks between police and prosecutors. “It’s all a circumstantial case against him built over years, trying to fit square blocks in round holes.”

Stephens’ mother, Penny Hamilton, was guarded in greeting news of her son’s possible release as she spoke from her home in Mount Vernon, Mo. “I talk to my son on a regular basis, and I’ve always believed he was innocent,” she said, “ . . . with all my heart.”

But investigators will continue hoping that someone will come forward with new evidence that will make their case stronger, Handfield said.

“This is definitely the right guy,” he said. “It’s just an issue as to whether [prosecutors] can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt in court.”

If the charges are dropped, Stephens will not be released immediately, Handfield said. Because he was serving a prison term when charged for Dallies’ murder, he will instead be handed back to the state Department of Corrections, the sergeant said.

But Stephens had only two more months to serve before becoming eligible for parole when he was charged. So he would likely be freed within days of arriving in prison, Handfield said.