REAL KILLER IN THE MATTHEW TURNER CASE NAMED PT.2

Matthew Turner’s father ,Wayne Turner, has a history himself. He has a criminal record and has been in prison. He was a known drug addict and grew up as a documented gang member. But today Mr. Wayne Turner is the Executive Director for the BKR Gang and Drug Intervention Program. A community based program in Highland Park that works with gang members and drug addicts. I’ve talked to community members here in Highland Park and they have nothing but good to say about BKR Gang and Drug Intervention Program. One resident told us that, “Wayne Turner is a good man and watches out for the kids by taking them to Dodger games and passing out turkeys at Thanksgiving along with toys at Christmas time.

Mr. Turner himself has turned his life around. When asked what brought about the change in his life, this is what he said, “Well I entered into a program in April of 2009 to kick a drug addiction. In that same year in August my son Matthew got arrested for murder and attempted murder. I didn’t know to handle it, I guess because I was never there for my family. But life showed up and I know that my son Matthew didn’t do this and I really thought everything was going to out different for him. I thought Matthew was going to be found innocent because everyone knows he didn’t do it”. Mr. Turner lived at the LA Mission rehab for 2 years. He was there all through Matthew’s 2 trials and the motion for the retrial hearing. I can say it only must have been hard for him after all these years of neglecting his responsibility as a father, that life showed up and here is his son being charged with murder. But Mr. Turner prove to be a strong man when he didn’t allow what was taking place, to cause him to relapse back into his addiction. He used this to catapult him into becoming the man he is today.

Through Mr. Turner’s program many parents and the lives of many children, now have the opportunity to live full and productive lives. His program is one of the most comprehensive with a holistic approach to behavioral modification. I have sat with Mr. Turner and I can honestly say that he has a heartfelt compassion and a love for the work that he does. BKR Gang and Drug Intervention Program is an asset to the Northeast Los Angeles area. With services like parenting classes, substance abuse counseling and drug education, youth diversion programs a food program and he even has a transportation program where he distributes bus tokens.

Coming soon is BKR’s Community Career Development Center where he helps community members find jobs, write resumes and teaches interview skills. His whole staff is put together by volunteers. Although he lacks support from Local, City and Federal funding agencies, Mr. Turner works as a Youth Counselor for the Optimist Youth Homes and Family Services. It is his paycheck from this job that has been funding his program.

Why was Matthew Turner dealt this bum deal? Although he was known to have friends that were gang members and he himself had some minor gang involvement, his family describes him as a young man with a future in front of him. At the time of his arrest he had been dating a young lady and it seem that Matthews life had taken a turn from the difficulties and challenges that he face as a young man growing up in Highland Park.. Matthew had finished and graduated High School and was now talking about looking for employment, so that he could support his girlfriend and make his mother and family proud of him.

When Matthew was found guilty in the second trial the Turner family fired then Attorney Arlene Binder and hired OJ Simpson prosecutor, Christopher Darden. It was in the motion for the retrial hearing that Christopher Darden uncovered the DA misconduct and the LAPD misconduct.

David Fonesca of the Highland Park Mouth Washington Patch, also writes that during the motion for the retrial, Darden again argued that the deck was stacked against Matthew because he was by far the youngest person in the live lineup. Darden argued that attorney Arlene Binder made several critical errors in a defense of Matthew that bordered on negligent. Darden argued that Binder’s greatest error came in failing to cross-examine a witness named Ernest Olguin, who owned a tattoo shop near the crime scene. Olguin initially testified that he had gotten “a good look” at the shooter, but that confidence faded during the second trial.

Guillemina Lopez, Matthew’s mother, claims to have overheard Olguin tell LAPD Det. Lisa Governo that Matthew was “not the guy” upon seeing him entering the court during the second trial. Lopez would relay this information to Binder after Olguin finished testifying. Darden argues that Binder made a clear tactical error in failing to call Olguin back to the stand to question him on this matter. In the motion for the retrial, Governo testified that she “couldn’t say that he didn’t say that” when asked about Olguin’s statements. She also admitted to not telling the defense counsel about Olguin’s statement until after the second trial.

David Fonesca further writes in the article; And yet there was a glaring “failure of any witness to describe a mole on the face of the shooter,” Darden said. “There’s the fact that, until the mole is introduced to the witness, no witness has any recollection of it. There is no forensic evidence, tying Matthew to the suspect vehicle or murder weapon. Part of the problem with identification cases is that when you have detectives with a vested interest in the outcome of the case or specific theories about who did it, they become biased, and they tend to do things, either consciously or sub-consciously, to make a case. And I think that’s part of the problem here.”

Shortly after the denial of the motion for the retrial hearing by the judge Bob Bowers Jr Christopher Darden appeared on a radio show alongside Wayne Turner. Here Mr. Darden made this statement, “those LAPD detectives should be prosecuted themselves because they know who the real killer is and never went after him”.

The Turner family feels that the families of the victims have not been served justice because the real killer is still out there. Mr. Wayne Turner has vowed to fight all the way to his grave until the real killer is brought to justice.

Since Matthew’s conviction and the denial of his appeal, the Project for the Innocent, from Loyola Law School, has taken this case and reinvestigating it. The Turner family has an online complaint gathering signatures for the US Justice Department to open up an investigation into the Northeast LAPD in how they conducted this investigation. And to see if there are other innocent people that have suffered from their systematic pattern of convicting innocent people. We hope that the light and the truth is revealed in this sad story of a family broken by a broken justice system.

The Turner family believes that truth will always come to the surface and that Matthew will one day be cleared of this crime and that Sergio Verdugo will pay for; not only the murder of Adrian Betancor; but also pay for the pain that he has caused in the lives of the Turner family.

Sources say that Sergio “Happy “ Verdugo has since moved from Highland Park and now resides in Porterville, CA. with his wife and children.

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