Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 14, 1994 TAG: 9405160159
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: SANTA ROSA, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
After hearing from 24 witnesses during a three-day preliminary hearing, Judge Robert P. Dale said the evidence created a ``strong suspicion'' that Davis snatched Polly from her Petaluma bedroom at knife point and strangled her.
In all, Davis faces 11 criminal charges, including murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment and assault with intent to commit a lewd act on a child. The murder charge carries four special circumstances. If any one of those special circumstances is proven at trial, Davis could be sentenced to death.
In an unusual move that hushed the courtroom, Dale delivered a harsh, five-minute monologue summing up his feelings about the notorious case.
``This case leaves many gnawing questions,'' Dale said. Among them are when and how Polly died and whether she was still alive when two sheriff's deputies questioned Davis shortly after the kidnapping.
``I don't know'' the answers, Dale said, ``I don't think any of us knows, except for one person. Polly Klaas can't tell us.''
Dale also called Davis' assertion that he kidnapped Polly in a drug-induced haze ``absurd and totally without credence.''
``This is not a person who is intoxicated, this is not a person who is confused,'' the judge said, referring to evidence alleging that Davis brought precut strips of fabric into Polly's home to bind and gag her and two friends. ``This is a person who has a plan ... and continued to carry it out.''
Polly's father, Marc Klaas, sat with his head bowed during Friday's brief hearing. After the judge's ruling, he clasped hands with Petaluma Police Sgt. Mike Meese, the lead detective in the case.
Later, a shaken Klaas said the week's testimony had been ``absolutely awful'' to listen to. ``If I could turn back time I would turn back time, but it's impossible to do that,'' said Klaas. ``Polly is dead ... and nothing will ever bring my heart back or fill the emptiness that I feel.''
Davis, 39, sat passively through the week's testimony. His attorney, deputy Public Defender Barry Collins, said he was not surprised by the judge's findings because the standard of proof prosecutors must meet at a preliminary hearing is low.
Collins said he would consider a plea agreement if the district attorney would drop efforts to obtain a death sentence for his client. Prosecutors have said that is not an option.
Polly was kidnapped Oct. 1 from her Petaluma bedroom during a sleep-over for two schoolmates. Her body was found two months later after Davis, a repeat felon who committed his first crime at age 12, was arrested and confessed.
In key testimony this week, Polly's friends identified Davis as the intruder and four other witnesses said a man resembling Davis was outside the Klaas home in the hours before the crime. FBI forensics experts linked fibers from Polly's clothing and bedroom carpet to those found in Davis' car.
by CNB