Jury selection begins in officer's theft trial

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  Jury selection begins in officer's theft trial
  By VIRGINIA HENNESSEY
  Herald Salinas Bureau
  Posted: 06/15/2011 01:32:38 AM PDT
  Updated: 06/15/2011 01:32:39 AM PDT
  
  After numerous delays, jury selection began Tuesday in the embezzlement trial of Salinas police Sgt. Jay Malispina, who is accused of stealing $40,000 from his mother's bank accounts.
  
  If Monday's pretrial session is any indication, the final panel should be anything but bored. Judge Terrance Duncan spent the day trying to cinch the limits of testimony to keep the proceeding from turning into a family soap opera.
  
  For the time being, he granted prosecutor Gary Thelander's request barring defense attorneys from mentioning that Malispina's mother "shunned" him for 25 years because she is a Jehovah's Witness. Thelander said the alleged victim's religious beliefs were irrelevant and "may be prejudicial to some folks."
  
  Duncan also declared off-limits defense contentions about the relationship between Malispina and his brother, Randy Malispina. Defense attorney Mike Lawrence said Monday his client's brother spent some of the "missing" money bringing "not one, but two foreign brides" to the United States and that Randy held a grudge against his brother for throwing him out "after one of Randy's ex-wives tried to burn (Jay's) house down with him in it."
  
  "Is this one of the ones that was imported?" Duncan asked.
  
  "No," Thelander responded. "This may be why he started importing."
  
  Duncan said he could not determine in advance the admissibility of much of the testimony that was being challenged from both sides of the table. Among other contentions made regarding the alleged victim, Kay Malispina:
  
  · That she is a "hoarder" whose spending habits might have contributed to the disappearance of her nest egg.
  
  Duncan observed that his parents grew up in the Great Depression and "frankly what to us seems to be hoarding to them is common sense."
  
  · That her numerous medications make her forgetful and that she is known to feign incapacity and strokes. Lawrence said he fears she will use such tactics on the witness stand. Duncan suggested, if she did, the jury would be smart enough to see through it.
  
  · That she has made numerous false charges against her son and others. Among them was her initial allegation that Malispina had stolen more than $100,000. Police later determined, according to prior testimony, that at least some of that money was taken by Malispina's drug-abusing ex-wife, Sandra.
  
  Duncan's reading of a witness list Tuesday confirmed she is on the witness list.
  
  Defense lawyers Lawrence and Juliet Peck said it's imperative for jurors to understand the full nature of the relationship between mother and son. They claimed Malispina was first shunned by his parents over teenage transgressions, then "disfellowshipped" altogether "when he had the audacity to join the Air Force," because he might kill someone.
  
  It was only after her controlling husband died and the Jehovah's Witness elders in Angel's Camp decided they didn't want to be responsible that she and they reached out to Jay Malispina to take over his mother's care, Lawrence said.
  
  Thelander said he was tempted to let the pair pursue the defense since it established a motive on the part of Malispina, who is accused of stealing from his mother after he moved her to Salinas and she granted him power of attorney. The prosecutor alleges the defendant, who is on paid administrative leave from the Salinas Police Department, used the money on luxuries like a Mexican cruise and San Jose Sharks season tickets.
  
  Duncan cautioned Lawrence that much of the evidence he was pursuing could confuse and distract the jury from the issue of Malispina's state of mind when he wrote 11 disputed checks between December 2004 and April 2008.
  
  He warned Thelander, however, if Malispina takes the stand in his own defense and thinks the information is relevant, "I think I'm going to be hard-pressed to stop him from saying whatever he wants to."
  
  
  Virginia Hennessey can be reached at 753-6751 or [email protected].