Day 2 of the Trial for Justice for Brianna Kupfer

Share Story :

Unlike the first day of the trial for the murder of Brianna Kupfer, when there was heavy media attention, this day the media was absent.

Brianna, 24, had suffered 46-sharp force wounds. There were 26 stab wounds and 11 of the wounds were to the chest, which punctured both lungs. According to the autopsy, she died from exsanguination – the loss of blood.

Before the jurors were brought into the court room Defense Attorney Robert Haberer approached the bench for a conference with Judge Mildred Escobedo and District Attorney Habib Balian.

He said in one of the media reports yesterday (Fox), all of Shawn Level Smith’s booking shots had been shown, but that would be prejudicial to the jury, because his client had not been convicted in all the cases.

Escobedo said that she had admonished the jurors not to listen to news reports and told them if they walked into a room when someone was listening to the news, to walk out.

Balian said, “We cannot control the media, and you already gave admonishment.”

The judge remarked that the media do not always understand judicial matters.  When the jurors were seated on Friday morning, the first question the judge asked was “How many of you watched the news last night?”

No one, including the alternates, raised their hands. “Good,” she said. “You listened.” And reminded them of her admonishment not to listen or read anything about the trial: that it would stay in place during the trial.

The defendant, Shawn Laval Smith, is on trial for murder, and also faces two special circumstance allegations: lying in wait and the use of a knife.

Balian questioned Pasadena officers, who had arrested Smith. Initially, Smith told them his name was Cameron. The police cams showed his arrest in Pasadena.

The questioning was detailed and repeated with different officers testifying.

“Did you tell him he was arrested on suspicion of murder?” Balian asked.

“No” was the answer and it was explained that for officer safety and to prevent the man from running, police instead told Smith he was being detained because of “suspicious activity.”

“Why did you tell him to take off his backpack?” Balian asked.

“There could be a possible weapon,” an officer responded.

Balian ran video from different police cams to show they followed the rules. He asked about wearing gloves, and handling items, to show that a clear chain of command was established.

In trying to prove lying in wait, Balian interviewed shop owners that interacted with Smith that day. Stores included Artsspace Warehouse, Twentieth, the Friedman Law Offices, Langden Cole Furniture, and a Chiropractic Center. Jurors were shown video footage from the stores.

At each, Smith walks in and then walks out after a quick interchange, once he realizes someone else is in the store – until he reaches the Croft House. Brianna was by herself that day.

For example, at the Friedman Law Offices, Smith walks up to the second floor, sees the receptionist (and then hears a man in the background) and asks, “Is this a law office?” and then leaves.

Raquel Rodriguez of Twentieth – an art and furniture store on 7470 Beverly Boulevard, near the Croft house, said (and there was video) that Smith had come in. Her co-worker was seated at a desk and was not visible, until one walked further into the store.

She said at one point in reference to Smith that “something went off in me about the time of the verbal interaction.”

The defense attorney asked her if Smith would have been her typical customer. “There have been other customers that come in and fit his description and dress like him,” she said and added for example there was “a celebrity musician.”

Then, Haberer wanted to know how many art/furniture stores were on that block. Rodriguez did not know, but said the area is known for those kinds of shops.

Interior of the Croft House, where the murder took place.

The last witness called today was LAPD Officer Paulette Gonzales. She said that when she arrived at the Croft House at 2:02 p.m., her priority was clearing the scene and to see if there was any surveillance to identify the victim. She saw three cameras, Nest (Google). “I was trying to get a suspect’s description and get it out to the police and public,” she said.

It was explained to the jury that Nest is remotely operated by Google and a person can watch the cameras live in real time. Or Nest will store videos for a specific time and offers that subscription plan for a fee. The owner of the store had installed Nest on his phone, but did not purchase the additional feature to store clips.

On the day of the murder, Gonzales captured several screen shots from the manager’s phone, which were shown in court.

“What were you looking for?” Balian asked.

“What had occurred, and images of the suspect,” the officer replied. With the description from the screen shots, police were able to identify Smith as a possible suspect.

She was asked if she knew that the video had been removed by Google in 2023. “No,” she said.

The officer was asked what else she saw on the video but did not take a screenshot that day.

“Surveillance showed a white female run for the front door between the sofa and the mirror,” the officer said. “The suspect was also running to the front door and appeared to be trying to cut her off.”

Then, she said, “I saw an image of the suspect running towards the back door.”

These are the booking photos of Shawn Lavel Smith that were run on Fox. Defense Attorney Robert Haberer said it was not fair, because his client was not convicted in all of those cases and it could be prejudicial to the jury.

The trial will continue at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, September 3, downtown in Department 126 on the 15^th floor of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, 210 West Temple Street, L.A. Ca. 90012. There is a large cafeteria on the ground floor in that building. One can park for $12 a day at the old L.A. Times Building, entrance on Second Street, off Broadway. The lot is a block from the court building.

Share Story :