Efforts to present a defense in the Jamiel Shaw murder trial fizzled early Monday -- as none of the witnesses the defense planned to call to testify appeared in court.
"To say I'm unhappy is an understatement," said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald H. Rose.
Defense lawyer Csaba Palfi, who represents accused killer Pedro Espinoza, said his investigator had served a series of subpoenas and could offer no explanation for why the witnesses had failed to show.
Palfi said he planned to question two LAPD officers who had contact with Espinoza around the time of the Shaw murder in 2008 and Espinoza's probation officer.
Palfi also told the court Espinoza had decided not to take the witness stand, and Judge Rose asked Espinoza directly if he understood it was his right to testify in his own defense.
"Yes, your honor," Espinoza said.
After a series of phone calls Judge Rose said he'd learned the probation officer was in her office and was advised of the defense subpoena but still refused to appear.
"If she's in a courthouse perhaps we can have a deputy sheriff in that courthouse arrest her and bring her," said the judge.
