With the murder trial of National Guard Sgt. Scott Allen Ansman likely to start in December or January, Gerald Bennett, the brother of the victim, is not confident about a just outcome.
In the almost 15 months since 29-year-old JoAnne Crystal Harris was beaten to death, allegedly by her married boyfriend, Mr. Bennett has lobbied for the death penalty as fair punishment on the grounds of brutality and because the crime allegedly was premeditated.
In the sunny living room of his Leimert Park home, he unfurled a list of provocative observations and assertions.
Largely for reasons of race — Sgt. Ansman is white, Ms. Harris, pregnant at the time, was black — Mr. Bennett said he would not be surprised if the defendant eventually walked away a free man.
“Two things have happened as a result of this terrible tragedy,” the brother said. “It has brought our family closer together, and it has given us a chance to observe how the law handles cases of this nature. My sister was dealing with an individual who was in the service, employed by the government, based in Culver City.
“Due to extenuating circumstances, we were able to find out what actually happened on Aug. 24 of last year, the day my sister was killed. We were able to pinpoint her time of death, her last steps, and things that were said and done to her that have not been coming out in court.
Bad Signs
“We aren’t even at the trial phase of this case yet, and already I can tell the way things are going in the court, no one in the family is happy with what is going on.”
Mr. Bennett said that deputy Dist. Atty. Joe Markus “is trying to show this guy leniency because he is Caucasian.
“”We feel that Scott Ansman did the same exact thing that Scott Peterson did in Northern California, only Ansman got caught,” the brother said. “Scott Peterson got the death penalty, and he is on death row.”
Mr. Bennett quoted Mr. Markus as telling the judge during a hearing that he would not pursue the death penalty because the defendant “did not have a track record. He had never been caught doing anything wrong.
“When I heard that in court, it just knocked me out.”
What about the next alternative, a life sentence?
What Could You Expect?
“Dealing with the justice system, as corrupt as it is,” said Mr. Bennett, “between the prosecutor and the District Attorney’s office, I don’t think Ansman will do one day in jail. I think they will try to make it seem that my sister brought the killing on herself and that he was just defending himself. I don’t feel like the system is set up to prosecute a Caucasian doing something to a black person.”
Sgt. Ansman, who is facing two counts of murder in a special circumstances case, called the Culver City Police Dept., and turned himself in moments after Ms. Harris was bludgeoned with a baseball bat and other instruments in the gymnasium area of the National Guard Armory. While happy community residents were preparing to celebrate the opening of the annual Fiesta La Ballona weekend a few yards away in Vets Park, Ms. Harris and Sgt. Ansman were engaging in a violent disagreement, the source of which has not been made clear.
Incarcerated since the morning after the murder, Sgt. Ansman turned 36 years old yesterday, the second birthday he has marked in jail.
Mr. Bennett said the case” is not proceeding the way it should. This man was caught at the scene of the crime, with all of the … He was caught dead-on. I mean,” he said, raising his voice, “it’s like, what do you need?
“If it was the other way around, there would not have been any of this talk about ‘we need this evidence’ and ‘we need something else and something more.’”
Straightening the Lines of Blame
He wanted to make it clear that while he sill mourns the loss of his sister, he is not blaming the public defender who now is representing Sgt. Ansman. In researching the background of Nan Whitfield, Mr. Bennett found that she received a bevy of awards last year. “Everybody knows,” he said, “that public defenders work with district attorneys, and they are dealmakers. They never go in there to fight for your freedom. When they go in there, it’s like Monty Hall’s old television show, ‘Let’s Make a Deal.’ You’re not going home with the public defender (representing you). But she actually took her job to heart and did what she needed to do. She is one of the top public defenders in the office.
“She is a black woman. For them to shove this type of case on her, I feel bad for her. It’s like, ‘wait a minute. This case happened a year ago, and you’re going to throw this case on me and expect me to be ready to go? That’s not fair when he had all these other attorneys that he was trying to pay for.’ Every attorney who takes a case tries to prove his client innocent, whether his client is innocent or not. They still want to put up a good fight. But when there is no fight to put up, all you can do is lie down.”
To be continued
