Bird Court Voided Death for Killer : Must ‘Honda Dave’ Die? New Penalty Trial Is Due

His friends called him “Honda Dave,� and every day at his murder trial 8 years ago his bright red-and-white Honda 350 sat in front of the judge’s bench.

It was the key evidence against him, and a grim reminder of the murder of a woman in a vacant Irvine field. Honda Dave--John Galen Davenport--became the only defendant from Orange County ever sent to San Quentin’s Death Row for murder with torture.

But this week, he is back.

Davenport’s is the last of the four Orange County death sentences reversed by the state Supreme Court under then-Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird. Davenport won a new penalty trial because of “jury instruction errors.� The other three men have already been retried, given new death sentences and returned to Death Row.

Davenport, now 34, recognizes that the fate of the other three may signal his own.

“I know how tough it will be; and I know the jurors may hold my past against me,� said Davenport, now at the Orange County Jail. “I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of.�

The focus at his new penalty trial will not only be on the woman he killed, but on the woman he tried to kill but couldn’t. Suzanne Tewes, stabbed by Davenport 22 times when he broke into her home in 1974, will return to court to relive that attack for a new jury in an effort to persuade them that the man should die.

This jury will have only one decision to make: whether to return a new death verdict for Davenport, or give him life in prison without parole.

The state Supreme Court upheld Davenport’s murder conviction for the March 27, 1980, stabbing death of 30-year-old Gayle Anne Lingle.

Lingle and Davenport were seen leaving together at the Sit ‘n Bull bar in Tustin about 1 a.m. on the morning she was killed. A few hours later, state transportation workers found her body in a vacant field at Myford Road and Michelle Drive in Irvine.

Stabbed 16 Times

She was nude, with a sweater draped over her. She had been stabbed 16 times and had a gaping wound in her neck. Most horrifying to the workers who found her, she had been impaled by a 4-foot-long, square-ended wooden stake with protruding nails. Experts have testified that she was still alive at the time.

A jail inmate testified at the first trial that Davenport told him that he had tried to cut the victim’s head off. When his knife was too small for that, he tried to hang her on the stake “like a scarecrow.�

The stake was a critical issue because the jury’s finding of torture was a prerequisite for returning a death verdict against Davenport.

But the most damaging evidence was his beloved Honda.

Davenport had two kinds of tires on the motorcycle, each with a unique tread. Both treads, almost on top of each other, were cleanly reproduced in plaster casts by crime lab specialists from prints found at the scene where Lingle’s body was discovered.

Tire Print Matched

Even more definitive, an expert testified that a defect found in one print could have come only from two or three tires inadvertently sent to the United States by a British tire company. That print was a perfect match to a defect on one of Davenport’s Honda tires.

The Supreme Court’s reversal of Davenport’s death sentence on Dec. 31, 1985, angered many of his first jurors.

One of them, William L. Chadwick of La Habra, has described it as “one of the greatest injustices I have ever seen.� Another, George Siegel of Westminster, predicted that no jury that hears the same testimony can come up with a penalty other than death.

“It was simply the most gruesome crime imaginable,� the first prosecutor, Anthony J. Rackauckas Jr., said.

At Davenport’s new trial, the Honda will no longer be center stage, because guilt will not be an issue.

The focus will be on Suzanne Tewes. She was asleep in her Tustin apartment on Sept. 17, 1974, when Davenport broke in after midnight. She fought him off despite his constant slashings with a knife. When she kicked him in the groin, he ran. He was arrested a short time later.

Tewes was left with impaired vision in one eye and numerous scars.

Most of Davenport’s jurors later said Tewes’ testimony sealed his death verdict.

“She had a dramatic impact on us,� said juror Edward Mahon of Placentia. “We only knew the dead girl by name. The Tewes girl was reality. When she showed us her scars and talked about that night. . . .

“If all of the jury instruction errors the Supreme Court talked about had been corrected, it wouldn’t have changed my vote to have Davenport executed.�

Attack Admitted

Davenport admits the attack on Tewes.

“I was on drugs; I feel bad about what I did to her,� he said. He was a 19-year-old Marine at the time, stationed at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

Davenport served 4 years of a 6-year prison term for the Tewes attack. Prosecutors wrote letters opposing his release, noting in their argument that Davenport once said he liked to “twist and gouge� when he stabbed someone. He was released, despite those objections, 8 months before the Lingle murder.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeoffrey L. Robinson said Tewes, who has changed her name and now lives out of state, is upset about returning to court to face Davenport again.

“It’s tough for her, but she’s willing to do it. She knows it’s something that has to be done,� Robinson said.

No Cross-Examination

Gary M. Pohlson, Davenport’s attorney, did not cross-examine Tewes at the first trial. He said it is not likely that he will this time either.

“It happened. John admits it happened; there is nothing to be gained by me asking her to go through it again,� Pohlson said.

Pohlson’s other problem besides Tewes is his own client. Davenport may admit the Tewes stabbing, and his later participation in the rape of a jail inmate, but he steadfastly denies he killed Lingle.

“I’ve told John that if he did kill her, it would be best if he admitted it, that it might be the only way for the jurors to see he has any remorse,� Pohlson said.

Davenport said he knows Pohlson is right.

‘Tougher for My Lawyers’

“I know I’m making it tougher for my lawyers,� Davenport said. “But I am just not going to admit something I didn’t do, even if that means going back to Death Row.�

Since Davenport’s return to the Orange County Jail nearly 3 years ago to prepare for his new penalty trial, he has created other problems for his lawyers.

He has been placed in disciplinary isolation for misconduct at the jail several times. Once, Robinson said, Davenport was caught with drugs. Another time, he threw food at the clothing exchange officer because he didn’t like the quality of the jail clothes.

Davenport admits “bombing� the officer with food. But he claims that jail deputies have started trouble with him and have beaten him for refusing to back down. He has filed an affidavit in federal court claiming he witnessed several beatings in the jail.

A Staunch Supporter

Davenport has a staunch supporter on the outside.

Judy Dunn, a forklift operator who was living with Davenport at the time of the Lingle killing, has remained loyal to him. She says she believes he is innocent.

“John has never lied to me,� she said. “If he killed her, he would have told me.�

Dunn contends that law enforcement officials unfairly arrested Davenport for the Lingle death in an attempt to punish him for the Tewes attack. Dunn has not seen the Honda tire evidence.

Davenport’s mother, Joan Legat of Price, Utah, believes in him too.

‘Why Would He Deny It?’

“He knew he deserved to be punished for the (Tewes) incident,� she said. “If he really did kill the Lingle girl, why would he deny it after admitting to the other one?�

But even Davenport’s own lawyers don’t plan to argue his innocence at his new penalty trial, which begins with jury selection on Tuesday.

The tire evidence, Pohlson concedes, is “pretty overwhelming.� Pohlson does not say that his own client is guilty. But he carefully avoids calling him innocent.

Pohlson’s co-counsel, Richard Schwartzberg, knows that Davenport may not fare any better than the other three men sentenced to die by Orange County judges and given new trials by the Bird court.

‘Just Give Up’

“What’s John supposed to do, just give up because those guys lost?� Schwartzberg said.

One interested party will be Davenport’s first prosecutor, Rackauckas, who is now in private practice. He calls Davenport “the most vicious killer I’ve ever prosecuted.�

Rackauckas, a leader in the successful effort to oust Bird, was not surprised by the Supreme Court’s reversal of Davenport’ sentence.

“When you see the Supreme Court overturn 46 out of 46 death verdicts, you know there’s no way it won’t overturn Davenport’s,� he said then. “But when the reality of it sets in, it’s like a kick in the stomach. It’s tragic, really.�