Jury starts deliberating in Abrams trial

Alex Coolman

SANTA ANA -- The guilt or innocence of the man accused of slaying two

children at a Costa Mesa day care center hung in the balance Wednesday as

the jury for his trial began its deliberations.

Steven Allen Abrams, 40, is charged with two counts of murder and

seven counts of attempted murder for the May 3, 1999, incident in which

he drove his Cadillac into the crowded playground of the Southcoast Early

Childhood Learning Center in Costa Mesa.

His actions took the lives of Sierra Soto, 4, and Brandon Wiener, 3.

Adams has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He could face the

death penalty if convicted.

After the conclusion late Tuesday of the prosecution’s testimony,

public defender Leonard Gumlia presented a brief case on Abrams’ behalf.

His sole witness was the California Highway Patrol officer who

investigated a collision on the Costa Mesa Freeway that Abrams caused

shortly before his alleged attack on the preschool.

In their closing arguments Wednesday, the two sides repeated the

contrasting portraits that they had drawn of Abrams at the beginning of

the trial last week.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Debora Lloyd portrayed Abrams as a man who had

planned his actions over a period of many years and who was unequivocally

documented as the killer of the young victims.

Lloyd downplayed any very complex analysis of the defendant’s mental

state, which she said was not relevant to this stage of the trial.

“This is not about right or wrong,” she said. “This is about planning

the murder and going through with it.”

Gumlia’s closing argument drew heavily on transcripts of interviews

police had made with Abrams and emphasized what he called the defendant’s

“completely psychotic” state of mind at the time of the crime.

Once again, the 10-woman, two-man jury heard details of Abrams’

elaborate theories about “brain wave police.” The term refers to a

nebulous conspiracy supposedly drawn from the ranks of Orange County

judges, neighborhood watch groups, churches and police.

Gumlia reminded the jurors of Abrams’ belief that he was trained by

the brain wave police to be a killer, and that he had taken his

horrifying actions as a way of escaping their designs.

“That’s all made-up, psychotic stuff, but that’s his reality,” Gumlia

said. “We can all see that he’s not a victim. But he believes it to the

core of his being: that he’s been victimized by this brain wave

conspiracy.”

The public defender has not presented any expert testimony

characterizing Abrams’ psychological state. In Lloyd’s rebuttal to

Gumlia’s closing, she drew attention to the absence of such testimony.

“There has been no evidence presented in this trial of a psychosis,”

she said. “[Gumlia] is basically conceding the premeditated murder of the

children.”

Deliberations will continue today, and attorneys said they think it is

possible that the jury will return a verdict.

If Abrams is found guilty, the jury must make a further determination

as to whether he is mentally competent to face the death penalty. This

punishment phase of the trial will require additional testimony and

further deliberation.