Woman Appeared Sober, Jury Told in Luster Trial

Testimony concluded Tuesday in the trial of accused date-rapist Andrew Luster after defense attorneys called their fourth and final witness -- an oil-field worker who testified that a woman Luster allegedly drugged and raped appeared sober when he saw her.

The tall, slender blond woman was standing outside Luster’s beach house with two men at about 2 a.m. when field worker Richard White saw her while checking gauges on oil properties near Mussel Shoals more than two years ago, White testified.

The woman’s arms were around Luster and she appeared to be holding him up, White said, telling jurors that the defendant was staggering, slurring his words and appeared drunk.

“He was toasted,” said White, a former bartender.

The testimony stands in contrast to statements given last week by the alleged rape victim, a former university student identified as Carey Doe, and her male companion, David Doe.

They told jurors they felt intoxicated and believe that Luster, the 39-year-old great-grandson of cosmetics magnate Max Factor, spiked their drinks with a drug after they met at a Santa Barbara bar on July 14, 2000.

Three days after the encounter, Carey Doe reported being raped by Luster. At the request of police, she called Luster and, during a lighthearted conversation recorded by law enforcement, got him to admit giving her the drug gamma hydroxybutyrate, also known as Liquid X or GHB.

During the call, Luster told the then-21-year-old student that she wanted to try the drug and he put it in her drink before they engaged in consensual sex “a couple of times.”

“It was good,” Luster tells her on the tape. “We were [messed] up

Luster was not present Tuesday when defense attorney Kiana Sloan-Hillier questioned White about his observations of Carey Doe.

Luster allegedly jumped his $1-million bail on Jan. 3 during a two-week break in the trial and is suspected of fleeing the country. The trial has proceeded in his absence.

Luster is charged with 87 criminal counts, including rape and sodomy of unconscious victims, drug possession and poisoning. Prosecutors allege that Luster used GHB to render three women unconscious for sex.

Defense attorneys, however, maintain those women agreed to take the drug, engaged in consensual sex and are now lying. Closing arguments are scheduled for this morning in Ventura County Superior Court.