David Wright faces life in prison for 1998 killing
DOWNTOWN LA — A Santa Monica homeless man will spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of a 20-year-old woman, a judge ruled Thursday.
Superior Court Judge Ruth Ann Kwan found David Thomas Wright guilty of first-degree murder for the killing of Aviva Labbe, who authorities found dead on June 14, 1998. Labbe was discovered lying face down in a walkway at a vacant home on the 200 block of Hill Street.
Judge Kwan is expected to sentence Wright on July 25. Wright is facing life in prison without parole.
In addition to the verdict, Judge Kwan also established that Wright was found guilty for assault with intent to commit rape of a Santa Monica woman in the mid 90s, giving him a strike against him in the sentencing guidelines. The 1995 incident involved Wright attempting to rape the woman at the corner of California Avenue and Second Street. The woman managed to flee from him.
The ruling is intended to ensure that if Wright successfully appeals the murder case on a technicality he will still have a strike against him, which would extend the years of his sentence, said Deputy District Attorney Ellen Aragon, who prosecuted the case.
“He shouldn’t be ever getting out, so whatever crimes he commits, it will have to be in prison,” Aragon said.
Labbe’s murder had been classified as a “cold case” and remained unsolved for nearly four years until a sampling of Wright’s DNA linked him in 2002 to the murder through the U.S. Department of Justice’s database system, authorities said. Convicted felons are required to give a DNA sample, which puts them in the data-base for authorities to periodically check.
Wright, 49, was found in the California state prison system serving a six-year sentence for battery of a Santa Monica police officer during an unrelated incident, authorities said. In January of 2001, a jury found him guilty of battery, resisting arrest, and failing to register himself as a sex offender.
The murder trial began March 21 and lasted through April 7, just as Aragon was prepared to make her closing arguments. Since then, the trial was resumed and postponed several times.
The DA’s office had agreed to help Wright secure his evidence.
That evidence was discussed at proceedings last week, with Judge Kwan expected to make a decision this week.
After the verdict, Wright questioned Aragon’s evidence, indicating there was no witnesses to the murder, no motive and a pager, which had been found in Labbe’s rectum, hadn’t been tested for any physical evidence. He also questioned Judge Kwan on her decision.
“He was complacent,” Aragon said about Wright as he heard the ruling. “Other than that, he was saying why he wanted her to delineate on her decision.”
Wright was informed that if he was not satisfied with the ruling, he could make motions to appeal the decision.
“I can appeal?” Wright is reported to have said.
Wright, who defended himself in the court trial, was being shadowed throughout the proceedings by his former public defender, Leonard N. Garber.
Garber, who disagreed with a panel which ruled Wright was competent to stand trial, has been on “stand-by” during Wright’s court appearances, often shifting out of frustration in one of the juror’s seats as Wright attempted to defend himself.
Garber said he is Wright’s legally appointed attorney through the California Bar Association who Wright fired last year, possibly for disagreeing with his decision to not have a jury trial.
Wright’s rap sheet goes back to at least 1990, when he pleaded no contest to petty theft. In 1993, he was convicted of possessing a dagger and given probation. In 1994, Wright was sentenced to two years in prison for assault with intent. In 1999, he was acquitted for possessing a deadly weapon.
Aragon, who said Wright seemed to have his bearings and was not sure if he had been putting on a charade during the trial, said the biggest obstacle to prosecuting the case was Wright’s tendency to become fixated on minutiae, using valuable court time to discuss points he considered imperative to the case but may not actually have played a significant part in Judge Kwan’s decision.
Aragon said she is satisfied by the way the court has handled the case. “(Kwan) gave him a long and fair trial and ample opportunity to bring in witnesses and evidence,” Aragon said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 24, 2005. Read the original PDF.