EXPERT WITNESS SERVICES Page 1 of 4
I have been retained by attorneys and police departments in
California, Florida, Illinois, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, New York,
North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and elsewhere to
research, identify, and in some cases appraise, knives or parts
of knives both in civil cases and in criminal cases ranging from
illegal possession or concealment to receiving stolen property to
homicide. In several of these cases I have testified in court as
an expert witness on knives. These are some of the cases.
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LEGAL CASES
LISTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
MARTINEZ, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA; November 18, 1980.
People vs. Ayers, Cal. PC 12020 (felony concealed dirk or dagger).
Client: Michael Tucevich, Public Defender's Office.
Ayers was arrested for carrying a concealed
fillet knife.
California's concealed weapons law prohibits the concealed
carrying of any "dirk or dagger," but it does not define these
terms. I testified in court that this knife was not a dirk or
dagger. Ayers was found not guilty in a jury trial.
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, SAN MATEO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA; December 1981.
People vs. Bell, Cal. PC 653 (k) (possession of switchblade or gravity
knives).
Client: James R. Nielsen, Attorney.
Bell was arrested for carrying a butterfly
knife.
California's switchblade law prohibits knives that can be opened
with a "flip of the wrist." A state Attorney General's opinion
says that this phrase applies to butterfly knives, although no
court decisions have supported this opinion. I was prepared to
testify that a butterfly knife is not a switchblade or gravity
knife. When the prosecutor was informed of this, the charges
against Bell were dropped before trial.
HAYWARD, ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA; May 1982.
Client: Knife World magazine.
Two Alameda County sheriff's officers confiscated
several
daggers from a flea market vendor, under the mistaken belief that
it is illegal to possess or sell them. I telephoned the
sheriff's substation and spoke to the lieutenant in charge,
suggesting that he read the text of PC 12020, which forbids only
the concealed carrying of dirks and daggers. He did so, and then
the officers returned the knives and made a formal apology to the
vendor, a retired county employee. I reported this story as "A
Weekend Incident" in Knife World magazine, June 1982.
RICHMOND, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA; January 14, 1983.
File No. R82C-0670, Cal. PC 12020 (concealed dirk or dagger).
Client: Robert Gendreau, Public Defender's Office.
Defendant was arrested for carrying a concealed
diving
knife. I wrote a letter stating my opinion that the knife in
question probably was a dagger, although it also had other
functions. Based on this information, the defendant pleaded guilty.
SAN JOSE, SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA; October 1983.
People vs. Krepps, Cal. PC 653 (k) (possession and sale of
switchblade or gravity knives).
Client: James G. Krepps.
Krepps was arrested at a gun show for offering
butterfly
knives for sale. I testified that butterfly knives are not
switchblade or gravity knives. Krepps was found not guilty.
SAN FRANCISCO CITY AND COUNTY, CALIFORNIA; August 1984.
Client: Marilyn Sullivan, Attorney, San Rafael, California.
Ms. Sullivan's client was charged with Cal.
PC 12020
(concealed dirk or dagger). She described the knife to me on
the
telephone, and I explained to her why it was neither a dirk nor a
dagger. She based her defense on this and her client was found
not guilty.
PORTLAND, MULTONMAH COUNTY, OREGON; April 1985.
Client: Mr. R.A.S. of Stockton, California.
The client, a personal friend, purchased a
collection of
fifteen antique Collins machetes at a gun show in southern
California. Several years later he offered them for sale to an
individual from Connecticut who had purchased the old Collins
machete plant there, which had been abandoned since 1966.
Mr. S. agreed to deliver the machetes at an antiques show in
Portland. There he was arrested for felony receiving stolen
property. The party from Connecticut claimed that these machetes
were part of the Collins 1876 exposition display, that they had
been stolen from the plant, and that they were worth over $10,000.
I obtained from the Smithsonian a photo of
the Collins 1876
exposition display. Then I examined photos of the machetes in
question and determined that they were not of the same high
finish as those in the display. I appraised the fifteen at a
total value of $690. All charges against Mr. R.A.S. were dropped.
He donated the machetes to a museum. The individual from
Connecticut was placed under investigation for insurance fraud.
SAN JOSE, SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA; May 8, 1985.
People vs. Tung Phi Dau, Cal. PC 187 (murder) and PC 12022 (b)
(use of deadly and dangerous weapon).
Client: Mike Popolizio, District Attorney's Office.
Tung Phi Dau was charged with the murder of
Thanh Trung Huynh.
Tung was arrested shortly after the death of Thanh. He was driving
his own car which was soaked with Thanh's blood. Also in the
car
was a Smith & Wesson dagger covered with Thanh's blood. Tung
admitted stabbing Thanh in the car, but claimed that the knife was
Thanh's, and that he had taken the knife from Thanh after Thanh
had attacked him, and had stabbed Thanh in self-defense. The
knife's sheath was not found, either in the car or on Thanh's body.
Prosecution maintained that the knife was
Tung's and that he
had concealed it in his car before the encounter with Thanh.
I
testified, first, that the knife was primarily a weapon, and second,
that because of its design, it would be very difficult and dangerous
for an individual to conceal this knife on his person without some
sort of sheath. In addition I photographed the knife and furnished
a new identical knife with sheath for use as evidence. I do not
know the disposition of this case.
SALT LAKE CITY, SALT LAKE COUNTY, UTAH; July 5, 1985.
Client: John L. Johnson, Homicide Investigations, S.L.C. Police Dept.
A murder victim was found stabbed with a broken-off
pocketknife blade. I determined that the blade was from a
Japanese-made melon tester jack knife that had probably been
exported to Mexico. This case is still open.
OMAK, OKANOGAN COUNTY, WASHINGTON; July 1985.
Client: Dirk Nansen, Attorney.
The survivors of a deceased 16 year old boy
had sued the
county for wrongful death. He had died in a vehicle crash while
being pursued by the police as a suspect in a residential
burglary. In his possession at the time of his death was a
German-made dagger that the burglary victim identified as having
been stolen from her house.
The survivors' attorney retained me to state
that the knife
was an unmodified commercial knife, and therefore could not be
positively identified. However, I advised the attorney that
although the knife was not unique, it was very unusual, and I
might be asked about this under cross-examination, so that my
testimony could wind up hurting his case. Therefore I was not
called on to testify. I do not know the disposition of this case.
NEWTON, CATAWBA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA; January 9, 1987.
Clients: Mr. C.E.S.; Lt. Eisenhower, Newton NC Police Dept.
Mr. C.E.S. was the fourth victim in a series
of residential
burglaries in Newton, North Carolina. He asked me to appraise
an
antique bowie knife that was among the property stolen from him.
It was a very rare and distinctive knife by Nathaniel Hunt of
Boston (active c1840-1853), and I appraised it at $1,500.
In the course of trying to establish the knife's
value by
inquiring if any other N. Hunt knives had been sold in recent
months, I learned that a knife that matched my client's description
had been sold at a knife show less than 80 miles from Newton NC
several weeks after the burglary. I knew the addresses of both
the
seller and the buyer, so the police and FBI shortly afterwards
recovered the knife, and then were able to develop leads toward the
burglars. Three of them have since been arrested and convicted
of
more than 50 burglaries, and are now serving 25 year sentences in
Virginia, upon completion of which they will begin serving 25 year
sentences in North Carolina. The seller of the knife, already
convicted of arms smuggling and counterfeiting, is under
investigation as the alleged instigator of the burglaries.
[In 1996 the seller was sentenced to four
years in state
prison in North Carolina for receiving stolen property.]
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BERNARD LEVINE * PO BOX 2404 * EUGENE OREGON 97402 * 541-484-0294