Jury Reports Deadlock in Slaying of Teenager

Jurors on Wednesday announced they are deadlocked on one of the charges against a Simi Valley car mechanic accused of fatally shooting a teenage boy--news that led Edward Nishida Drake’s attorney to conclude that his client has been acquitted of the greater charge of murder.

After five days of deliberations, jurors informed Superior Court Judge Ken W. Riley of their 11-1 impasse on the count of involuntary manslaughter, without indicating whether they were leaning toward acquittal or conviction of the 52-year-old Drake. Riley asked jurors to give the case one more night’s thought before returning for a final poll today.

“It’s obviously an important case,” Riley told the weary jurors late Wednesday. “With that type of margin, just maybe sleeping on it, [things] could change. I would request on behalf of everyone involved in this case that you come back at it and take one more vote.”

Word that jurors had split on a lesser charge than second-degree murder clearly disturbed the prosecutor and the family of 17-year-old Leonard Anthony Coppola, killed 16 months ago by a single bullet to the face while trying to retrieve a trailer for a weekend outing from an automobile lot behind Drake’s repair shop.

Drake sat straight-backed as Riley sent the jury home for the day. Rushing from the courtroom without speaking, Coppola’s ashen-faced mother sobbed. A visibly frustrated Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Calvert declined comment on the jury’s actions.

Defense attorney Stephen M. Hogg expressed relief that Drake no longer faces a possible penalty of 25 years to life in prison. Involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of four years, and Drake could face another 10 years for use of a firearm.

“I’m happy my client is not facing murder. I want to see him acquitted and go home today,” Hogg said outside the courtroom.

“On the [greater] charges, it’s quite obvious that he’s been acquitted of those charges because the [jury instruction] rules require an acquittal on second-degree murder before proceeding to voluntary manslaughter,” Hogg said. “Then, you have to have an acquittal on voluntary manslaughter before proceeding to involuntary manslaughter.”

Before one member was dismissed from the jury Monday for looking up a legal term in the dictionary, the panel submitted two signed, dated and sealed verdicts to Riley on the counts of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter.

The judge has not read those verdicts in open court. However California jury instructions require the panel to reach unanimous not-guilty verdicts on the greater counts before considering the lesser.

The chain of events that took young Coppola’s life began about 9 p.m. on Oct. 10, 1997.

After a meal of cold pizza and Cognac, Drake fell asleep on a cot in the rear of his BMW and Mercedes-Benz repair shop on Chambers Lane in Simi Valley. A tapping on his window roused Drake from his slumber, he said later.

Thinking the noise came from a burglar, Drake--who had been robbed several times--grabbed a loaded .44-caliber revolver as he headed toward his shop door. He threw open the door and saw a figure crouched with hands clasped together. Drake fired a single shot that hit the person in the face.

The person was Coppola, who was trying to open a combination so he and friend Gary Eisenhauer could borrow a trailer from a neighboring business that shares a lot with Drake’s.

The case was particularly poignant because Drake knew and liked Coppola. Hours before the shooting, Drake had given Coppola and Eisenhauer a package of steaks and hamburger meat for the weekend trip.

During the case, Calvert argued that Drake could have spared Coppola’s life by grabbing his phone and dialing 911--rather than grabbing his revolver--when he heard a noise outside his window. Referring jurors to a video reenactment that Drake participated in hours after the shooting, Calvert said he showed no tinge of remorse.

Defense attorney Hogg contended the shooting was a tragic accident, committed in darkness. Saying the lifelong knowledge that Drake had taken Coppola’s life was punishment enough, Hogg asked jurors to acquit Drake, a father of two young adults, and send him home.

“Nothing we can do here will help [Coppola’s family’s] loss one way or another,” Hogg said.