Murder trial starts this week
By Daily Press staff
The trial of a Santa Monica businessman accused of murdering a transient begins this week.
Michael Ward Bell, 54, of Los Angeles, allegedly shot and killed Andre Watson, an African- American transient, in front of his Pico Boulevard auto repair shop last July.
Lawyers began selecting jurors on Friday and will give their opening arguments as early as Tuesday. Superior Court Judge Steven Van Sicklen will hear the case at the Airport Courthouse near LAX.
John Raphling, Ward’s public defender, said Bell acted in self defense after he was threatened and attacked by Watson.
Mark Burnley, the deputy district attorney prosecuting the case, couldn’t be reached for comment.
But Christine Johnston, the deputy district attorney first assigned to the case, said at a January preliminary hearing that Bell methodically fired six bullets at Watson, with four shots actually hitting him.
One bullet grazed his knee, while two other bullets entered through his hip and the back of his thigh. The fourth bullet went through Watson’s calf, said Santa Monica Police Detective Virginia Obendain at the hearing.
Bell allegedly aimed a.357 Smith & Wesson revolver at Watson, who local merchants said had spent most of the afternoon hanging out on the street in front of BT Automotive, Bell’s auto repair shop located on the 2600 block of Pico Boulevard.
Bell had reportedly stayed late waiting for a customer to pick up his car, which he did at about 8 p.m. He was arrested in the BT parking lot about 30 minutes later after police responded to a call of shots being fired in the area.
Authorities found a box cutter and a half empty bottle of alcohol on Watson, Obendain said.
Raphling has implied Watson suffered from a serious mental health condition and said the two were fighting before the incident.
Shortly before the shooting, Watson was released from prison after allegedly attacking two women with knives, Raphling said at the hearing.
Bell is in custody at the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles on $2 million bail.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 9, 2003. Read the original PDF.