Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 6, 2006 13:05:02 GMT -5
Family of Winchell calls on renowned attorney
Family and friends of Stockton teen Terri Lynn Winchell, slain 25 years
ago in a crime that put Michael Angelo Morales next in line for
California's death chamber, want to make sure his victim, rather than the
killer, fills the public's eye. So they have turned to Gloria Allred for
help. The famed Los Angeles attorney and victims' advocate has experience
chaperoning clients, such as Scott Peterson's one-time girlfriend Amber
Frey, through the onslaught of media attention that comes with
high-profile cases.
She is in the news so much that some critics - including Morales' attorney
- accuse her of seeking out the spotlight. But others who depend on her,
such as Winchell's aging mother, Barbara Christian, believe Allred
provides needed guidance and assurance.
Allred said in a phone interview from her Los Angeles law office last week
that she's there to support relatives of murder victims, who are really
victims themselves. Allred said she only goes when she is invited, as in
Christian's case.
"I think what she is enduring is every mother's worst nightmare," she
said. "I'm happy that there are many people supporting her. I'm just one."
Christian, now in her 70s, said she shunned publicity in the years after
her daughter's Jan. 8, 1981, brutal murder in an Acampo vineyard that
shocked the community. Morales killed her as a favor to his cousin Ricky
Ortega, jealous because he was in love with the same young man Winchell
was seeing.
As Ortega drove north from Stockton, Morales attacked Winchell, repeatedly
hammering the 17-year-old on the head. At the vineyard, Morales stabbed
and raped her. Morales was sentenced to death and Ortega received a life
sentence in prison.
A quarter century later, the state prepared to execute Morales on Feb. 21,
prompting Christian to speak out publicly against Morales. That execution
was delayed amid wrangling over the state's use of lethal injection.
Commotion of the impending execution, answering media calls and opening
the newspaper every day to see Morales' photo staring at her proved
emotionally draining, Christian said. And then his execution was delayed -
another emotional blow.
Morales' case is about to drag Christian into another whirlwind when
attorneys on Sept. 26 are expected to meet in a San Jose courtroom to
resolve those wranglings over lethal injection. It is unclear when the
execution could follow.
Christian said she welcomed Allred as somebody to lean on.
"I feel like I found a new wonderful friend," Christian said. "She just is
right there for everybody who's hurting."
Allred, 65, is a founding partner of Allred, Maroko & Goldberg, a law firm
that takes on discrimination, civil rights, sexual harassment and murder
case. According to her Web site, Allred was raised in a working-class
Philadelphia home and overcame her own obstacles, such as being a single
mother, before her career in law took off.
She also is an advocate for crime victims, but when asked in the phone
interview last week, she declined to spell out the terms of her
relationship with Christian.
David Senior, Morales' attorney, said he never met Allred personally, but
he doubts she has Christian's best interests in mind. Allred, whom he
accused of "grandstanding," has a knack for showing up in front of the TV
cameras.
"It seems like (she's) exploiting a victim's family for her own profile,"
Senior said. "I don't understand what her program is."
The attorney drafted his own star power. Kenneth Starr, the independent
counsel in the Whitewater investigation that led to the impeachment of
President Clinton, led Morales' request for clemency from Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger. That request was denied.
However, Trish Costa, a former classmate at Tokay High School of the slain
Winchell, said she is sure Allred's motivation's are sincere. Allred
contributes her connections and well-schooled know-how about cases like
this, something Costa said she does not have.
Costa and a small group calling themselves Terri's Voice first invited
Allred to a candlelight vigil at Tokay High shortly after Morales'
execution was delayed. That is where Allred first met in person with
Christian and her close supporters, Costa said.
Allred in April also spoke at legislative hearings in Sacramento with
Christian beside her in an attempt to pass a law speeding up the appellate
process, so condemned men such as Morales do not wait on death row for so
long. The bill failed. Christian and Allred are planning more appearances
together.
"Gloria's been able to take Terri's story to a higher level than we could
have ever done," Costa said. "She's getting the point across about Terri
and who Terri was and what kind of evil person Morales is."
(source: Stockton Record)
Family and friends of Stockton teen Terri Lynn Winchell, slain 25 years
ago in a crime that put Michael Angelo Morales next in line for
California's death chamber, want to make sure his victim, rather than the
killer, fills the public's eye. So they have turned to Gloria Allred for
help. The famed Los Angeles attorney and victims' advocate has experience
chaperoning clients, such as Scott Peterson's one-time girlfriend Amber
Frey, through the onslaught of media attention that comes with
high-profile cases.
She is in the news so much that some critics - including Morales' attorney
- accuse her of seeking out the spotlight. But others who depend on her,
such as Winchell's aging mother, Barbara Christian, believe Allred
provides needed guidance and assurance.
Allred said in a phone interview from her Los Angeles law office last week
that she's there to support relatives of murder victims, who are really
victims themselves. Allred said she only goes when she is invited, as in
Christian's case.
"I think what she is enduring is every mother's worst nightmare," she
said. "I'm happy that there are many people supporting her. I'm just one."
Christian, now in her 70s, said she shunned publicity in the years after
her daughter's Jan. 8, 1981, brutal murder in an Acampo vineyard that
shocked the community. Morales killed her as a favor to his cousin Ricky
Ortega, jealous because he was in love with the same young man Winchell
was seeing.
As Ortega drove north from Stockton, Morales attacked Winchell, repeatedly
hammering the 17-year-old on the head. At the vineyard, Morales stabbed
and raped her. Morales was sentenced to death and Ortega received a life
sentence in prison.
A quarter century later, the state prepared to execute Morales on Feb. 21,
prompting Christian to speak out publicly against Morales. That execution
was delayed amid wrangling over the state's use of lethal injection.
Commotion of the impending execution, answering media calls and opening
the newspaper every day to see Morales' photo staring at her proved
emotionally draining, Christian said. And then his execution was delayed -
another emotional blow.
Morales' case is about to drag Christian into another whirlwind when
attorneys on Sept. 26 are expected to meet in a San Jose courtroom to
resolve those wranglings over lethal injection. It is unclear when the
execution could follow.
Christian said she welcomed Allred as somebody to lean on.
"I feel like I found a new wonderful friend," Christian said. "She just is
right there for everybody who's hurting."
Allred, 65, is a founding partner of Allred, Maroko & Goldberg, a law firm
that takes on discrimination, civil rights, sexual harassment and murder
case. According to her Web site, Allred was raised in a working-class
Philadelphia home and overcame her own obstacles, such as being a single
mother, before her career in law took off.
She also is an advocate for crime victims, but when asked in the phone
interview last week, she declined to spell out the terms of her
relationship with Christian.
David Senior, Morales' attorney, said he never met Allred personally, but
he doubts she has Christian's best interests in mind. Allred, whom he
accused of "grandstanding," has a knack for showing up in front of the TV
cameras.
"It seems like (she's) exploiting a victim's family for her own profile,"
Senior said. "I don't understand what her program is."
The attorney drafted his own star power. Kenneth Starr, the independent
counsel in the Whitewater investigation that led to the impeachment of
President Clinton, led Morales' request for clemency from Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger. That request was denied.
However, Trish Costa, a former classmate at Tokay High School of the slain
Winchell, said she is sure Allred's motivation's are sincere. Allred
contributes her connections and well-schooled know-how about cases like
this, something Costa said she does not have.
Costa and a small group calling themselves Terri's Voice first invited
Allred to a candlelight vigil at Tokay High shortly after Morales'
execution was delayed. That is where Allred first met in person with
Christian and her close supporters, Costa said.
Allred in April also spoke at legislative hearings in Sacramento with
Christian beside her in an attempt to pass a law speeding up the appellate
process, so condemned men such as Morales do not wait on death row for so
long. The bill failed. Christian and Allred are planning more appearances
together.
"Gloria's been able to take Terri's story to a higher level than we could
have ever done," Costa said. "She's getting the point across about Terri
and who Terri was and what kind of evil person Morales is."
(source: Stockton Record)