The preliminary hearing for Willie Davis Frazier, a suspect who was shot in an altercation with a university police officer Oct. 5 in Kerckhoff Hall, was postponed Wednesday so police could have time to give the defense additional information.
Police radio calls and witness statements relating to the incident are among the information the defense lacks. This information could affect the defense’s trial strategy, said John Raphling, Frazier’s public defender.
Instead of beginning the preliminary hearing Wednesday, Raphling filed a discovery – a request for additional documents and information that may have been unavailable before the trial date.
“In any criminal case that police are investigating, they may have documents that they didn’t turn over,” Raphling said.
Police say that on Oct. 5, UCPD Officer Terrence Duren confronted Frazier, who was trespassing in the Kerckhoff Hall study lounge. After a physical altercation, Duren shot Frazier, reportedly out of fear for his life.
During the incident, Duren may have had a device that recorded part of the event. The recording may shed additional light on the incident, Raphling added.
Raphling said he is trying to “get the truth out – find out what really happened.”
He also requested a use of force report – documentation of the circumstances surrounding an incident involving an officer’s use of force.
Frazier, a 51-year-old transient, was transferred Oct. 11 from the UCLA Medical Hospital to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles where he is currently being held on $250,000 bail.
He is charged with two counts of assault and one count of removing an officer’s weapon.
Frazier pleaded not guilty Oct. 15 to the three charges filed against him, and during an earlier interview said he did not initiate the incident.
Raphling echoed his client’s claims of innocence Wednesday.
“The officer started things. He went after him; he escalated it,” Raphling said.
L.A. Police Department detectives investigating the shooting said last week that evidence surfaced in the investigation indicating Frazier precipitated the incident.
The court will determine whether there is enough evidence to continue with the trial at the newly scheduled preliminary hearing, set for Nov. 14.