Lee Hopper and three of her brothers identified defendant by picking his photograph from a set of 13 assembled from a file of about 150 by Sergeant Koury of the Los Angeles sheriff's office.
Defendant's trial on the murder charges started November 20, 1967. Kelly Lee Hopper, her mother, and her stepbrother, Raymond Marlow, testified at that trial on November 21, 1967. Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree. Defendant obtained new counsel, moved for and was granted a new trial on the murder charges. After a month-long trial a jury found him not guilty. No evidence concerning the instant charge was presented at the second murder trial. Following his acquittal defendant was committed to department 95 of the superior court where proceedings were conducted to determine10, Mark Hopper, age 8, Raymond Marlow, age 8, Kelly Lee Hopper, age 7, and Curtis Hopper, age 4. Mrs. Hopper sat on the grass with Curtis. The other five children left her presence and went to play elsewhere in the park. A man approached the five children and asked them to help him find his dog. He offered a 50 cent reward. He directed the three older boys to go in one direction and said he would take the younger ones and go in an opposite direction. The man took Kelly and Raymond by the wrist and walked a distance with them. He then left Raymond beside a tree and told him to stay there. The man walked away with Kelly. He took her behind some towers,