(Dec. 11, 2006) -- Testifying in a focused, businesslike tone without outward emotion, a 21 year-old woman described the beating and injuries she sustained -- that left her face bloodied and bruised, her nose crooked, facial bones broken including an eye socket and multiple teeth damaged -- when she was surrounded by a group of juveniles, part of a larger group from which racial taunts, then newspapers, lemons and small pumpkins were hurled at her and two 19 year-old girlfriends as they walked northward on Linden Ave. from Bixby Road on Halloween night.

At the time, the residential area was full of people in the area of a "haunted house."

The victim maintained her composure throughout and, from the courtroom audience, didn't appear outwardly injured [with the exception of her left eye, which appeared slightly different although hard to detect from a distance]. But photos described in detail in court, and the results of a medical evaluation (stipulated as accepted by the defense and prosecution) spelled out the magnitude of her physical injuries.

On December 8 [her second day of testimony which began Dec. 1; other testimony intervened], the witness said she crumpled to the ground in a ball to try and shield herself from the multiple blows...but managed to see an African-American male, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, lift a skateboard and swing it at one of her two girlfriends.

The beatings continued, previous testimony in the case indicated, until a tall African-American male (late 30s or early 40s) intervened and pulled the assailants off the women. An 18 year-old African-American woman, who testified for the prosecution in the case, said she also ran to the assistance of the women, who are white.

Ten juveniles (ages 12-17, nine girls, one boy, all African-Americans) face felony assault charges by means likely to produce gravest bodily injury, eight of them with hate crime allegations appended; two other 15 year old males face similar charges in a trial proceeding on a separate chronological track; LBPD says it believes additional suspects remain outstanding.

On direct examination by Deputy District Attorney Andrea Bouas [possibly to preempt a defense argument that hasn't occurred publicly yet], the beating victim testified that neither she nor her girlfriends used racial epithets or did anything to provoke the attacks that night.

Our account of the Dec. 8 court proceeding isn't a transcript [audio recordings aren't allowed in the trial] but reflects salient portions paraphrased.

While asking the victim to recall the events of that night, prosecutor Bouas held up a small pumpkin. [From a distance we estimate it was larger than a hardball and smaller than a softball.] Is this the type of pumpkin thrown at you, the prosecutor asked? The victim replied that the one in the prosecutor's hand was smaller than what was thrown.

At the field show-up, the victim identified one girl who hit her on the side of her face and top of her head; what did she mean by that, prosecutor Bouas wanted to know...and asked the victim to demonstrate. The victim said the girl had hit her in the front of her face by her left eye...and in demonstrating this, the victim used a clenched fist. To make it clear, the Deputy DA asked if she had used a clenched fist...and the victim said yes.

What did she mean she was hit at top of her head, DA Bouas asked?. The victim bent her chin toward her chest...and showed her fists going onto the left hairline of her head [above her temple].

How did it feel when she it you? It hurt. In the face? A lot, yes. Also on the top of the head? Yes.

Did the victim have a definite recollection of the girl hitting her? I looked up and saw her standing there, the victim said.

She indicated there were three males present...but she only got a good look at one of them.

What about the male with the skateboard who swung it at her girlfriend? He was medium build, taller than she [the victim] is, wearing a sweat shirt with the hood up above his head. [Since the victim was wearing heels that night, he was taller than she was in heels; she's 5'6" without heels, about 5'9" in heels].

Why does she remember him? Because she saw him lift his skateboard up.

Deputy DA Bouas showed the victim a picture of herself after the beating...and asked her to compare it with a picture of the girls taken when they were dressed for the evening but before they went out. Why did her hair look short before she went out? Because she was wearing a wig, the victim replied. Why wasn't she wearing the wig in the photo after the beating? Because it was pulled off her head, she replied.

Deputy DA Bouas asked her to compare photos of her girlfriend [the one struck by the skateboard] before and after the attack. The victim said her friend's forehead is bruised and has bumps on it and is darker than normal. Another photo showed her friend's eyebrow piercing with blood on it and her cheek bruised and dark; her forehead was also dark, bruised..and raised.

Deputy DA Bouas asked the victim to look at a photo of herself after the beating. The victim said the photo showed her nose is crooked and her eye black and purple and swollen underneath an eye.

Who took the photos? One set was by police. Another by her mother...at the hospital that night and later at her home.

In one photo, she said her nose is crooked and her face so swollen she can't tell where the bridge of the nose is. She said there was also a large purple ball under her eye, and her eye is swollen shut and her face is swollen on the entire left side.

Another photo showed what looked like a purple, turquoise and black ball under her eye. Her eye was swollen and bruised and her nose was pushed and face swollen and bruised.

Did her injuries change over time? Yes, the victim said. The swelling got worse, more colored, and began to hurt a lot and the eye got more and more closed.

A stipulated written statement by a physician was introduced (agreed to by the defense and prosecution). He examined the victim on Nov. 9. His statement indicated that the victim suffered fractures (more than one) of her nose, left orbital rim [of her eye], orbital floor and maxillary sinus. Her eye was recessed roughly 3 mm. Surgery, bone grafting and possible placement of plates in the victim's head are recommended.

An x-ray indicates that multiple teeth were fractured or dying, calling for extensive dental reconstructive surgery.

A photo taken of her girlfriend [the one hit by the male with the skateboard] in the hospital ER that night showed large lumps on her friend's forehead; the right side of her face looked swollen and bruised...and she had a blood mark in her eye.

The victim indicted that during the field show-up, she recognized several individuals involved by what they were wearing as well as their face...and said she could remember certain kinds of hooped and heart-shaped earrings. In one case, a girl's hair was recognizable because it was an orangish-red color and braided, the beating victim said.

Deputy DA Bouas asked the victim to recall when she and her girlfriends exited the haunted house and walked out on Linden Ave...and heard people yelling "stupid white bitches" at them. Did she have any reaction, DA Bouas asked. Not out loud, no, the victim replied. Did you make any reaction back? No, she replied.

When she began being pelted by all the things that were thrown at her, did she have a response? Yes...she turned around and responded "You don't have to do that. Why are you doing that? Stop throwing things at us."

When she was kicked in the back of the leg, she turned around again and said, "Don't kick me in the back of the legs. You don't have to do that."

At any time did she call anyone a bitch? No, she said.

Did she do anything she can recall that would have provoked the crowd to throw things at her. No.

Did you hear either of your two friends utter any word such as bitch? No.

Did you make any racial epithet to anyone in that crowd that you walked through? No.

Did you make any racial epithet after you began being pelted? No.

Did you make any racial epithet at any time from the time you walked up to that haunted house to the time that you were taken to the parking lot to make a field show-up? No.

Did you hear either of your two girlfriends make any racial epithets that night? No.

The victim's direct testimony on Dec. 8 ran roughly an hour, from just before 2 p.m. to just before 3 p.m. The court called a recess...and court resumed with cross-examination at 3:17 p.m.

During cross-examination, the victim said [consistent with the 18 year old African-American witness but seemingly inconsistent with one police officer's testimony] that LBPD officers were first on the scene, not paramedics.

On cross-examination by defense attorney Frank Williams, Jr., the victim said she and her friends didn't go "through" the crowd but tried to go around them by walking into the street. The victim said the first objects were tossed at her when the women were crossing Bixby Rd. onto the sidewalk of Linden Ave.

About how many people were there in the crowd on Linden? About 25-30. About how many were female? A majority.

But at the field line up there were 10? Yes. So there were about 20 girls missing? Yes. Can you describe any of those missing? No. Height? Weight of those missing? No.

During course of attack at some point you’re on ground? Yes. You’re being pinned? Yes.

At one point, you’re standing up? Yes. During that time you’re hit from behind? Yes. You turned and see something that indicates that the person hit you? Yes. Then you’re hit from behind again, you turn again and see someone which indicates someone hit you? Yes.

At some point you are on the ground in a kind of fetal position, with arms covering head? Yes.

The victim said she covered her face with her arms and had her chin down with her arms over head, her eyes at a downward diagonal. Her head was down when she got her cell phone out...and had just gone to flip it open when it was knocked out of her hand.

And before being hit, you had a chance to see the individual who was attacking your friend [the one hit by the skateboard]? Yes, the victim said...but she didn't see what happened to her other girlfriend.

Attorney Williams asked if the victim could describe any individuals who took part in the beatings that weren't at the field show-up. Yes, the victim said. She recalled them by their jackets, hair, different types of braiding...and one girl had braids that was close knit but wasn't at the field show up, the victim said.

Defense attorney John Schmocker asked the victim if she remembered specific items of clothing worn by individuals shown to the victim at the field show-up.

About the girl that the victim said at the field show-up had hit her on the left side, did she recall if the girl's hair was pulled back or in braids? I don't recall.

Was she wearing a jacket? Not a jacket. What was she wearing? A blue top. What was on that blue top> I'm not sure.

Was that girl wearing a dress? No. What was she wearing? Pants of some sort. What kind of material? Don't know. What kind of shoes was she wearing? I don't recall.

But you said you made your identification based on hairstyle, clothes and jewelry and there was something distinctive about the person who hit you on your side. Because she was wearing hoop style earrings? Yes.

But three of the girls were wearing hoop style earrings. Do you remember any other configuration that was different? Yes, it had a heart.

Regarding the girl about whom the victim said at the field show up, 'yeah she hit me and [my girlfriend],' what kind of earrings was she wearing? Gold hoop earrings that look like bamboo. [Defense attorney looks puzzled]. The victim added, they're not made of bamboo but the gold is styled to look like bamboo.

Defense attorney Schmocker brings up the field show-up admonition forms...and the victim mentions that when she signed them, they were blank. So you're not attesting to your statement on the form by your signature, because the statement wasn't on the form when you signed it? The victim replies: I was told that I was attesting to what I was saying.

Were you having some vision impairment? Only to my left eye.

Do you wear glasses or contacts? Glasses. But you're not wearing glasses now? I can't wear them without hurting and they're incorrect for my vision now. Were you wearing glasses that night? No. I had astigmatism only in my left eye. They were prescription glasses and I believe there's little if any correction on the right eye (but isn't sure).

She's 21, so was she drinking that night? No. Any intoxicants at all? No.

Defense attorney Schmocker notes that during his cross-examination he asked the victim if the woman she identified wore anything distinctive and the victim said no. Schmocker tacks a photograph to the courtroom exhibit board...showing the accused minor in the photo wearing a yellow scarf on the night of the beatings that the victim didn't mention.

That concluded the victim's cross-examination at roughly 4:30 p.m. Court will resume on Tuesday Dec. 12 [not Monday].

LBReport.com thanks Alan Tolkoff who attended the proceeding with a laptop computer and provided us with a corroborating account of courtroom testimony which contributed to this report.