From: Solitairea1
Date: November 01, 2005
Time: 03:15 PM
Tues.Nov.1, 2005 Grand jury hears testimony in Vitale case By Bruce Gerstman CONTRA COSTA TIMES At least one witness in Pamela Vitale's murder case has appeared before a grand jury, testifying to a "very, very dark aspect" of her relationship with the defendant. Documents filed Friday by attorney Gloria Allred and by deputy district attorney Harold Jewett in Martinez regarding a judge's gag order in the case revealed that the grand jury has been hearing testimony since at least Oct. 25, nearly a week after 17-year-old Scott Dyleski was arrested in the killing. Prosecutors can use criminal or civil grand juries to obtain testimony from witnesses, often without intending to get an indictment. Police cannot compel a witness to make a statement, but a prosecutor can compel testimony at a grand jury hearing, according to state law. Allred is representing a witness, whom she has described as a young female, who testified Oct. 25, according to court documents. Investigators served a search at the young woman's home the day she testified. That day, investigators searched the home of Dyleski's girlfriend. Allred argued in the court documents that a gag order, which Contra Costa Superior Court Judge David Flinn issued Thursday, should not keep her from responding to "unjustified attacks" on her client's character, including on national news programs. Jewett said in the documents he told Allred on Wednesday about her client's testimony, "including ... a very, very dark aspect of the relationship between the witness and the defendant." That evening, Allred appeared on Fox News and told Greta Van Susteren that her client had cooperated with law enforcement authorities. Flinn sent a personal letter to Allred on Friday stating that the order applies to her. He then issued an amended order that said his order stops "attorneys of persons that might be potential witnesses" -- those words were underlined -- from talking to media. Allred declined to comment Monday on any aspect of the case. On Thursday, authorities arrested Dyleski's mother, 53-year-old Esther Fielding, on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact. The charges were dropped the next day on the condition that she testify against her son. In a separate matter, a search warrant returned to court Monday reveals that Fred Curiel, the owner of the Hunsaker Canyon Road home where Dyleski was living with his mother, told investigators that he believed Dyleski used his computer to place online orders using fraudulent credit cards. The day before Dyleski's arrest, Curiel told Dyleski that the credit card fraud could connect him to Vitale's killing, the affidavit says. The affidavit did not specify why Curiel suspected a link between the credit card fraud and the homicide. Meanwhile, a law enforcement source said Monday that Antioch police have forwarded a report to sheriff's investigators concerning Dyleski's father, made the day his son was arrested. About 2 p.m. Oct. 19, Dyleski's father, Kenneth Dyleski, an Antioch resident, turned six firearms over to the police for destruction, a police log said. His wife, Dyleski's stepmother, wanted the guns out of the house and he was moving out of town, the source said. According to divorce papers filed Oct. 12, the couple is ending their marriage. Bringing unwanted firearms to the police isn't uncommon, but the report was passed on when Antioch police realized there was a connection to Scott Dyleski. Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said he couldn't comment, citing the court-imposed gag order. The teenager was arrested at a family friend's home in Walnut Creek about 10 p.m. the same day. Kenneth Dyleski was coming to pick his son up that evening, the friend said. Staff writer Kelli Phillips contributed to this story. Reach Bruce Gerstman at 925-952-2670 or bgerstman@cctimes.com. email this print this reprint or license this .................................................. Solitairea1