Bill Spurred by Ojai Teen’s Search Killed

A bill prompted by the prolonged search for Kali Manley was killed Tuesday by an Assembly committee after critics declared it an infringement of attorney-client privilege.

Introduced by Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks), the bill would have required a lawyer to disclose the location of a missing person even if that information came from the lawyer’s client. It would also have required the lawyer to identify the source of that information.

“If we could save one Kali Manley in the future, this bill would be worth it,” Strickland argued.

The Public Safety Committee voted 4 to 4, killing the bill, after four of five Democratic members opposed it.

Two defense lawyer groups argued the bill was an unconstitutional invasion of a defendant’s rights and would do little except prompt defense lawyers to tell their clients to keep incriminating information to themselves.

“This is locating missing persons at almost any cost,” said Michael Kelly of the California Public Defenders Assn.

An analysis by the public safety committee also said the bill would be extremely difficult to enforce.

Manley, a 14-year-old Nordhoff High School freshman, was abducted Dec. 19 in Ojai, leading to a massive search by volunteers. The weeklong hunt was prolonged for several days as the attorney for David Alvarez, 22, grappled with the ethical and legal dilemmas raised by his client’s apparent willingness to cooperate with police.

Louis “Chuck” Samonsky, who has since been replaced as Alvarez’s attorney, said at the time he was trying to negotiate a deal with prosecutors to spare his client’s life.

Alvarez finally led police to Manley’s nude body in a roadside drainage pipe 30 miles north of Ojai the day after Christmas. Alvarez is charged with murder under special circumstances and faces a potential death penalty.

The Manley family joined 22 county sheriffs and the state District Attorneys Assn. in backing the bill.

“The whole community was looking for this little girl, and all the time an attorney was negotiating with the D.A,” Strickland said. “I find that disgusting.”

Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury declined comment on Strickland’s bill and the committee’s decision to kill it.

Committee members said little, though two Republicans said there are already legal exceptions to attorney-client privilege. This would just be another, they said.

One Democrat, Carl Washington (D-Paramount), was convinced.

“I’m not an attorney,” Washington, a minister, said. “ I’m trying to get to the human side of this.”

Four committee members--three Democrats and one Republican--never heard Strickland’s arguments because they were absent for the debate. They cast votes later.

Lawyers are now required to notify authorities of the whereabouts of a crime victim if they know the person to be alive. This bill would have extended that requirement to dead people.

Strickland said except for Alvarez, no one knew for certain in the Manley case whether the girl was dead.

“There was no way to know that Kali was dead, other than the criminal’s word,” Strickland said. “And whether Kali was alive or not, I don’t want any other family to go through what the Manley family went through.”