Murder Defendant Loses Mail, Phone Privileges
A Ventura County judge stripped mail and phone privileges from skinhead murder defendant David Ziesmer on Friday after prosecutors presented evidence to show he violated an existing order on jail communications.
Ziesmer, 28, is facing first-degree murder charges in the 1998 beating death of 17-year-old Nichole Hendrix of Ventura.
Prosecutors say Ziesmer intentionally killed Hendrix after mistakenly concluding she had reported him to police for selling stolen property.
Ziesmer was indicted by a grand jury last summer and held without bail. Prosecutors later obtained a court order restricting mail, phone and visitation privileges after discovering Ziesmer had allegedly tried to harm witnesses from jail.
On Friday, prosecutors pushed to further tighten those restrictions after finding the names of witnesses from another gang-related murder case in Ziesmer’s cell.
Judge Vincent J. O’Neill Jr. overruled objections from Ziesmer’s defense lawyer, who argued that stripping all mail privileges from his client would be cruel. O’Neill said Ziesmer posed “an extreme danger” to the community.
Under the new order, Ziesmer will be allowed no jail visits. He can only call his lawyer and a defense investigator.
A trial date is set for Feb. 2.
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