Unnamed Girl - 3 yo (2009)/Accused: Kody Kaplon - Siskiyou/ Yreka CA

Kody Kaplon trial: Testimony begins
Posted Jul 27, 2011
Yreka, Calif. — After opening statements by District Attorney Kirk Andrus and Public Defender Andrew Marx on Thursday morning, witnesses took the stand in the case of Kody Kaplon, including two officers and several members of the alleged victim’s family.
Kaplon, a 25-year-old Hornbrook resident, is charged with attempted murder, sexual intercourse with a victim under 10 years of age, sexual penetration with a foreign object with a victim under 10 years of age, two counts of sexual oral copulation with a victim under 10 years of age, kidnapping and endangering the health of a child.
In his opening statement, Andrus said March 1, 2009 was not an unusual day and night at the Pine Garden Apartments. But around 4:30 a.m. March 2, the parents of a 3-year-old girl heard her cry out.
“That cry, those words motivated the adults in the apartment to act,” Andrus said.
He then outlined the events that he says followed, which consisted of the family of the girl who had suddenly disappeared from her bed searching for her. When the girl’s mother allegedly saw Kaplon drive away with the girl on his lap, it set off what Andrus called “a man hunt.”
While several people during the course of the trial will give testimony that will directly implicate Kaplon, Andurs told the jury, DNA evidence may not be as conclusive. While the DNA evidence will be useful in some aspects, “This is not a typical DNA case with astronomical numbers,” he said.
But in the end, Andrus said, he hoped the jury would still find Kaplon guilty.
Marx’s opening statement strongly emphasized the insufficiency of DNA evidence. He said the DNA evidence does not match Kaplon, that it could, in fact, be one in five people.
“I think it’s clear something happened to (the child) at some point in time, but Mr. Kaplon is not the source,” Marx said. “The evidence does not meet with the allegations. I don’t think the evidence matches reality. ... Based on the evidence, there is still a mystery in this case.”
Marx ended his opening statement by telling the jury he is “certain some offense occurred ... but Mr. Kaplon is not guilty.”
Testimony then commenced. Two Yreka Police Department officers – Nick Friden and Kevin Friedman – took the stand and recounted responding to the Pine Garden Apartments early the morning of March 2. They said that they spoke to family members and friends who were at the apartment, searched for the vehicle Kaplon was driving, prepared a missing persons flier, issued an order to be on the lookout for the vehicle, helped secure both the apartment and the scene where the child was eventually found, and provided photo line-ups.
The child’s great uncle, Phillip Stapp, described the evening’s and morning’s events at the apartment he shared with the girl’s parents at the time, including drug and alcohol use, how Kaplon had come to the apartment, Kaplon’s demeanor and how he awoke to find the child missing.
At one point in his testimony, Stapp recalled how Kaplon had, on several occassions, told him that he would get even with Stapp for disciplining him as a child. Stapp said he had known Kaplon since Kaplon was about 9.
“Sometimes I could tell it was a joke, but other times I wondered if he was serious,” Stapp said.
Two others who had known Kaplon from a young age – Carolyn Souza-Myers and Elizabeth “Nickie” Miller – also testified, telling counsel they had seen Kaplon at their apartment the evening of March 1.
Souza-Myers described his demeanor as “weird” and said that at one point he had told the women he was coming to say goodbye because he was going to jail for a long time. Miller testified that Kaplon “wasn’t acting right in his mind.”
Shawna Crump, who was at the child’s family’s apartment the morning of the incident, testified that Kaplon had come over and was “flirtatious” with her. She also testified to waking to the child’s scream, as if she was “having a nightmare” right before someone came into the room to say she was gone.
The child’s parents also took the stand.
The child’s mother broke out in tears just minutes into the testimony, before recounting how her husband had woken up to the child’s scream and they began searching for her. She testified she went to the front door, where she saw Kaplon drive away with the child on his lap. He looked at her and then drove away quickly, she said.
“So, I went back in the apartment and said, ‘He took her!’” she said. “I felt confused and didn’t know what to do. ... I just wished I had my baby back.”
The child’s father recounted a similar story and also testified that the child has often spoken about the incident without prompting. Lately, however, she has said she doesn’t want to talk about the incident, “‘Because it’s nasty,’ she tells us,” he said.
Testimony will resume at 9 a.m. today, and the trial is expected to last through mid-August.

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/x1217536961/Kody-Kaplon-trial-Testimony-begins

Kaplon trial day three: Men tell story of finding girl

Posted Jul 29, 2011


Yreka, Calif. —

The trial for Kody Kaplon – the 25-year-old Hornbrook man who is charged with a number of sex-related acts with a minor as well as attempted murder, kidnapping and endangering the health of a child – continued Thursday afternoon with further examination of George Flippen Jr., a miner who found the then-3-year-old girl on March 2, 2009.
In Marx’s line of questioning, Flippen revealed that footprints he had seen leading to where the child was found were likely around size 9 1/2. Flippen also verified the shirt he found the girl in and having given police officers a DNA sample days after the incident.
“What you witnessed and what you did was a pretty emotional thing for you,” Marx said.
With Flippen that day was his friend, Wayne Courts Jr., who took the stand next. Like Flippen, Courts recounted how the group of men reached the area where they eventually found the car Kaplon is alleged to have driven into the Humbug hills with the young girl.
He said the car, which had been lodged on a bank, looked like someone had tried to dig it out. He also said it looked as if someone had been getting in and out of the car because it was muddy inside.
He then recounted following two sets of footprints with Flippen until they ended and went over an embankment, where they soon found the girl.
He spoke of how he “carried her in my arms,” took off her wet shirt and replaced it with a dry sweatshirt, got her food and water, and then handed her over to California Highway Patrol officers who soon arrived on scene.
Those officers made it to where the men are in large part because of Courts’ cousin, Nickolas Super, who was also with the men that day.
After hearing about the missing girl, the men drove in Super’s Jeep in search of her. Once they came up to a flat near an all-terrain vehicle park, he said he felt different.
“I got halfway past it and something told me I need to stop and look that way,” he said.
Shortly after turning on the road, “I saw tracks where there weren’t suppose to be any,” Super said.
When the group came upon the car, Super said he remembered it from a flier they had seen advertising the missing child. After searching the car for any sign of the girl, the men noticed the footprints.
Super said he told Courts and Flippen to follow them while he went and brought back law enforcement officials who had gone in the opposite direction.
When he made his way back to where Courts and Flippen were and saw them with the girl in their arms, “It was exciting,” he said. “I was just glad to see she was alive.”
The jury also had the opportunity Thursday to listen to the 9-1-1 call made at the time of the girl’s disappearance.
The call starts with the girl’s mother on the line before the girl’s father takes over.
“Somebody just took my daughter out of my house, man,” the father is heard frantically telling the dispatcher.
He goes on to tell the dispatcher “the guy who took her is named Kody,” that he was a friend of the family and that he drove off with her in a “little green car.” He says he has no idea why Kody would take her.
When the dispatcher asks the father if he is sure the child is gone, the father says, “Yes, I heard her scream.”
Testimony will continue at 9 a.m. Monday and will include a representative from the California Department of Justice.



http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/topstories/x1158627393/Kaplon-trial-day-three-Men-tell-story-of-finding-girl

Testimony continues
Posted Aug 02, 2011
Yreka, Calif. — Another day of testimony in the Kody Kaplon trial began at 9 a.m. Monday with Humbug resident James Ragsdale.
Kaplon, a 25-year-old Hornbrook resident, is charged with attempted murder, endangering the health of a child and several sex-related charges involving a minor.
Ragsdale told Siskiyou County District Attorney Kirk Andrus he has known Kaplon’s mother for about 35 years and knew of Kaplon and had seen him off and on since Kaplon was a child.
When Kaplon showed up at Ragsdale’s home around 10:30 or 11 a.m. March 2, 2009, Ragsdale said he knew he knew him but didn’t immediately recall his name since he hadn’t seen him in three or four years. Kaplon knew who he was, Ragsdale said.
After he was reminded of Kaplon’s name, Ragsdale said he asked him if he would like to come into the house. Kaplon refused, saying he was too dirty, Ragsdale recalled.
“He looked like he had rolled down a hill in mud,” Ragsdale said.
Kaplon allegedly told Ragsdale he had walked from around a golf course near what is now known as Yreka Walker Road after he had rolled his pickup on its side.
Ragsdale said he offered to go help Kaplon put the vehicle back on its wheels, but Kaplon refused, saying he would have someone come out and help him.
He looked a little disoriented, Ragsdale said, and asked for a ride. Ragsdale took Kaplon to Hornbrook.
Ragsdale said his wife was concerned that Kaplon “wasn’t thinking too clearly,” so she suggested Ragsdale take a gun with him.
“I wasn’t concerned about dealing with Kody. I just wanted to help him. ... He looked like he may have had a hard time,” Ragsdale said.
Along the way, Ragsdale said, they passed a California Highway Patrol car and Kaplon “looked a little concerned.”
After dropping Kaplon off in Hornbrook, Ragsdale was heading home when he stopped to talk with some miners.
As he was talking to them, an officer approached looking for Ragsdale. The officer showed him a flier with Kaplon’s photo on it and asked if he had seen Kaplon. Ragsdale said he told the officer he had given Kaplon a ride and could show the officer where he had taken him, but the officer told Ragsdale that Kaplon was already in custody. When the officer told him what had happened, “I almost fell back,” Ragsdale said.
As the miners took off to help search for the missing child, Ragsdale said he returned home, and just as he was getting ready to go help, some of the men came to his house asking to use a phone because they had found the car.
Before they could make a call, Ragsdale saw a CHP car coming, flagged down the officer and told him to follow the men to the site.
When questioned by Public Defender Andrew Marx about what Kaplon had been wearing, Ragsdale said he hadn’t really noticed, so he would only be speculating.
“I know what I’m talking about, and I only want to talk about what I know for sure,” Ragsdale said.
Following his testimony, his wife took the stand, and closing out the day was Sgt. Ray Boutin of the Yreka Police Department.
Boutin testified to interviewing, taking a few pictures of and accompanying Child Protective Services workers to a sexual assault exam of the child the day of the event as well as conducting an interview the day following the event. He also testified to some of the injuries present on the child.
During interviews, the child called Kaplon by many names, including Jack, Michael and Mr. Man, but she picked him out of several photo line-ups, Boutin testified.
When asked if she ever knew the man as Kody, the child said her mom knows him as Kody, Boutin said.
During interviews, she also made reference to several details that were not consistent with what had happened, Marx pointed out. The child had mentioned her parents helping dig her out of a hole with a shovel and saying she was lost at sea with trees around, Boutin verified.
Boutin’s testimony ended the day of court at shortly after 2 p.m. Monday. Testimony will resume at 9 a.m. today.

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/x555035869/Testimony-continues

Kody Kaplon trial: Doctor takes the stand

Posted Aug 03, 2011
Yreka, Calif. — Two of the first people to hear about an incident a young girl allegedly went through March 2, 2009 took the stand in the Kody Kaplon trial Tuesday.
Kaplon, 25, is accused of kidnapping the then-3-year-old girl. He also faces several sex-related charges, an attempted murder charge and a charge of endangering the health of a child involving the girl.
Trial for the Hornbrook resident, who has been in the Siskiyou County Jail on $2 million bail since March 2009, began July 12.
On Tuesday, Dr. Sagar Bedi, an emergency room physician for Fairchild Medical Center of Yreka and Shasta Regional Medical Center in Redding, testified about his encounter with the girl the afternoon and evening of March 2, 2009.
He had heard briefly before her arrival what had allegedly happened to the little girl – that she was sexually assaulted, kidnapped, driven out to a remote Humbug area and buried.
Bedi said the child was brought in wrapped in a sheet or blanket and was covered in mud. He performed a medical exam “from head to toe” and asked her a few questions about what had happened to her, he said Tuesday.
Bedi said he observed several abrasions on the girl in the area of her arm, neck and cheek. Some linear bruising on her neck was consistent with having been choked or having pressure applied to her neck, he said. Bruises on the face looked like something that would be seen on someone who had been “roughed up,” he said, and the bruising on the arm looked like someone had grabbed her with force.
Bedi testified about the possible cause of petechial hemorrhaging seen in the area of her eye as well as the affects, timing and force of strangulation. He said it would not take much pressure to constrict the airway of a child – which could explain why she didn’t admit to any pain in her neck or have trouble swallowing – and that children typically bounce back pretty fast.
He also shared that, although she talked about several sexual acts that had taken place, he did not see any external injuries consistent with a sexual assault.
Also at Fairchild Medical Center that night was Child Protective Services Emergency Response Supervisor Susan Cervelli, who occupied the stand for a majority of the trial Tuesday.
She recounted responding to help with the investigation. Upon arriving, she said she found a scared and timid child covered in mud, her fingers caked in red clay-like dirt and her hair messy.
In time, the girl opened up and offered what Cervelli called “clear and concise answers” to open-ended questions. The girl talked about being kidnapped, choked, buried and having to walk up a hill. Later in the interview she also spoke about sexual acts.
“Her verbal abilities were extremely advanced for her age. I was surprised,” Cervelli said. “The interview was probably one of the best I’ve ever seen.”
Cervelli later shared that some of the child’s statements were “so compelling and so direct” that she and another CPS worker present made sure to write down detailed notes, which – unlike most cases – have been kept.
At one point, the child demonstrated with her hands and feet how she had dug herself out of a hole. As she was sleeping in a car on her way to Mount Shasta for a sexual assault exam, she began wimpering and making the same movements with her hands, Cervelli said.
Cervelli was also part of a taped interview that took place at the Yreka Police Department the following day. The day’s testimony ended with the showing of a portion of that interview. The remainder of that interview will be shown starting Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.
Also expected to testify Wednesday are the doctor who conducted the sexual assault exam and a representative from the Department of Justice.

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/x1158635730/Kody-Kaplon-trial-Doctor-takes-the-stand

Kaplon trial day six: Jurors watch interview with girl

Posted Aug 04, 2011
Yreka, Calif. — Jurors for the Kody Kaplon trial began Wednesday by watching the remaining footage of an interview with the child who was allegedly abucted, followed by cross examination of the CPS worker who interviewed the girl following the incident.
Kaplon, a 25-year-old Hornbrook resident, is charged with kidnapping, endangerment of a child, attempted murder and several sex-related acts involving a minor. The charges stem from a March 2, 2009 incident involving a then-3-year-old girl.
The taped interview with the child from March 3, 2009 that occurred at the Yreka Police Department started Tuesday afternoon as the beginning of Public Defender Andrew Marx’s cross examination of Child Protective Services Emergency Response Supervisor Susan Cervelli.
Cervelli testified Tuesday regarding her initial interview of the child at the hospital following the incident alleged in the case.
She testified about being told by the toddler that she had been kidnapped, buried and had several sexual acts performed on her.
She also conducted the March 3 interview in an effort to get the child’s accusations on tape since the previous day’s interview had taken place at the hospital and could not be taped.
During the taped interview, the girl once again tells Cervelli about being kidnapped, choked and buried.
When talking about being driven to a remote area of Humbug, she said, “He told me that lost place is my home. I told him it wasn’t.”
She was a little apprehensive to talk about the alleged sexual acts, often telling Cervelli nothing happened with certain parts of her body or Kaplon’s body.
As was the case with the interview the previous day, the child did not call Kaplon by his name. The previous day she had called him Jack, and during the taped interview she referred to him as Mr. Man, “the kidnapping guy” and Michael.
When YPD Sgt. Ray Boutin showed her a photo line-up, she pointed Kaplon out and said he was the one who had taken her.
At one point while looking at his picture, she called him “the meanest man.”
Eventually, she relayed details about some of the sexual acts, though Cervelli later testified there was clear sign of trauma from the events.
“She was resistant to talk,” Cervelli said. “She had clearly developed an understanding that the things that had occurred – particularly the sexual acts – had a certain wrongness to them, and she didn’t want to talk about them as openly.”
During his line of questioning, Marx asked Cervelli about several details of the interviews.
He questioned Cervelli’s mention of seeing petechial hemorrhaging when she hadn’t mentioned it in her report. In addition, he pointed out that petechial hemorrhaging could be caused by vomiting – not just by being choked – and asked if she was aware the child had vomited in a California Highway Patrol car shortly after being found, of which Cervelli said she was not aware.
He also questioned whether the child’s mention of the word “kidnap” and the fact that people had been searching for her was just a young child “parroting,” or repeating what she had heard adults say.
He called into question the child’s recollection of the place she was taken as an ocean scene, a nightmare she had allegedly had in a car on her way to a medical exam and bruising Cervelli said had been present on the child.
Asked about her feelings regarding the second interview with the child, Cervelli said it was “difficult knowing she didn’t want to talk about it.”
“Difficult knowing she didn’t want to talk about it – or at least that’s your assumption of what it was,” Marx said, to which Cervelli answered in the affirmative.
The afternoon session of the trial continued with Cervelli’s testimony as well as testimony from the doctor who performed the sexual assault exam, a city worker who inspected the suspect’s car and a representative from the Department of Justice.
Look for more details about those interviews in the next edition of the Siskiyou Daily News.

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/x242975839/Kaplon-trial-day-six-Jurors-watch-interview-with-girl

Kody Kaplon trial: ‘Smoking gun’ in case?
Posted Aug 05, 2011
Yreka, Calif. — Judge Laura Masunaga ruled that a piece of evidence Public Defender Andrew Marx thinks could be a “smoking gun” in the case against Kody Kaplon was admissable in the trial Thursday.
Kaplon, a 25-year-old Hornbrook resident, is accused of several sex-related acts, attempted murder, kidnapping and endangering the health of a child – charges that stem from an incident in March 2009 involving a then-3-year-old girl.
No testimony was heard in the case the morning of Aug. 4 so that Marx, Siskiyou County District Attorney Kirk Andrus and Masunaga could discuss whether or not a tackle box found at one of the crime scenes involved in the case would be excluded.
The plastic box was found on the ground in the area of the car that Kaplon allegedly drove into the hills of Humbug with the girl. It was found and documented by California Department of Justice Criminalist Rebecca Gaxiola, who later in the day confirmed taking a photograph of the object after clearing some of the mud off of it.
Clearing some of the mud away revealed a name, possibly identified as Jim Browand.
“This could be the smoking gun that shows somebody else could be responsible for this crime,” Marx argued in fighting for the inclusion of the evidence.
Andrus shared that the person associated with the box has come forward and has offered proof the box was not in his possession at the time of the events. DNA evidence from the Department of Justice that was expected to arrive today also excludes that person from possibly having committed the acts, Andrus stated.
After studying case law and hearing arguments, Masunaga ruled that including the piece of evidence and the person in the case would not be prejudicial to the prosecution, and therefore she allowed it.
Gaxiola also told about her work helping to process the scenes – the girl’s residence, the area where the car was found and the car itself after being taken to the California Highway Patrol lot – and collect evidence during testimony beginning Wednesday and continuing into Thursday.
She testified that she and a group that walked the Humbug scene where the car was found did not find a hole, which the girl has claimed she was buried in. She did find and document footprints.
Gaxiola also talked about several pieces of evidence – including a swab of the external vaginal area, a blanket the child sat on at the hospital and a pair of underwear – that her office examined for trace of sperm that might verify the occurrance of sexual acts. The swab and blanket tested positive for small amounts and were submitted for further DNA analysis.
The swab was collected by Dr. Jill Schenk, the former Mount Shasta family physician who conducted the sexual assault exam on the child. She testified Wedesday afternoon about her observations of the child and exams conducted the day of the event as well as several days after.
Schenk noted petechial hemorrhaging, bruises and abrasions on the child. In the first exam – though short because the child was “distressed” – she said she “saw enough, obviously, to be concerned.” There were some abnormalities that seemed consistent with sexual assault, including dirt in areas there shouldn’t be as well as some redness in the thigh area.
After a more in-depth second exam, Schenk said the results were “indeterminate” because of lack of patient history available. While the exam seemed normal, she said, it’s hard to be sure about sexual abuse in children sometimes because internal structures have a “stretchyness” and can heal within days or even hours.
She said she could neither confirm nor negate that sexual abuse had occurred.
Also testifying Wednesday afternoon was Yreka Fleet Manager Randy Horn, who discussed the severe damage he noted during an inspection of the green Pontiac involved in the case. The damage was consistent with having been driven over “rough terrain,” he said.
Detective Steve Fahrney of the Yreka Police Department will continue testimony today that he began Thursday following the testimony of YPD Officer Patrick Dirckson. Today will also mark the beginning of Marx’s presentation of his case.

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/x1852597653/Kody-Kaplon-trial-Smoking-gun-in-case

Kody Kaplon trial: Doctor’s testimony excluded

Posted Aug 08, 2011
The day after Siskiyou County Superior Court Judge Laura Masunaga ruled that a piece of evidence could be included in the trial of Kody Kaplon, she decided that some testimony would not be.
Kaplon, a 25-year-old Hornbrook man, is on trial for allegedly kidnapping, sexually assaulting and burying a then-3-year-old Yreka girl in 2009.
The trial is now entering its third week of testimony, though not all days have been utilized for testimony.
Witnesses appearing for the prosecution have included the alleged victim, her family members, the miners who found her, several doctors, many police officers and others who know the alleged victim or Kaplon.
Friday morning began with a hearing to determine whether a doctor called to the stand by the defense would be allowed to testify to some of his findings in front of a jury. Following the hearing, Masunaga told District Attorney Kirk Andrus and Public Defender Andrew Marx that the doctor would not be permitted to testify because the details did not seem relevant to the case.
In front of the jury, the testimony of Detective Steve Fahrney began again at 10 a.m. The Yreka Police Department officer’s testimony began Thursday afternoon.
Fahrney was called to respond to the several crime scenes involved in the case on the day of the incident. He collected evidence and conducted interviews.
On Friday, he also testified to conducting several follow-up interviews for the case.
The interview and cross-examination lasted until shortly before noon, at which time the jury was released and Masunaga met with the attorneys once again.
Marx had intended to play an audio tape of a follow-up interview with one of the witnesses for the jury, claiming it could demonstrate some inconsistent statements, bias and different demeanor than the witness demonstrated on the witness stand in the courtroom.
Masunaga decided they needed to listen to it before the jury heard it so she could decide if that, too, could be allowed.
After the approximately 10-minute interview concluded, Masunaga said she would allow only portions of the interview to be played since other parts seemed to be consistent with the witness’ testimony he gave on the stand or would not be relevant to the case.
“I don’t think it needs to be played in its entirety,” she said.
Marx will edit the recording as approved by Masunaga and it will be played for the jury at some point in the trial.
Testimony in the trial will resume at 9 a.m. today and is expected to include Fahrney as well as another representative from the California Department of Justice.

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/x1852601663/Kody-Kaplon-trial-Doctor-s-testimony-excluded

Kody Kaplon trial: DNA experts testify

Posted Aug 09, 2011

Monday was filled mostly with testimony about DNA results in the Kody Kaplon trial.
Kaplon, a 25-year-old Hornbrook resident, is charged with several sex-related acts, kidnapping, attempted murder and endangering the health of a child in relation to an incident that allegedly occurred March 2, 2009 and involved a then-3-year-old Yreka girl.
Deanna Kacer, a criminalist with the California Department of Justice, was the first DNA expert to take the stand. She works out of a lab in Sacramento where DNA analysis is performed.
Kacer began her testimony by explaining what DNA is and how it is analyzed. She explained that DNA is a “blueprint” that tells the body how to grow and develop. It has several common as well as different or highly variable coding aspects, she said. It can be found in cells and extracted from substances such as hair, blood, semen, sweat and more.
She also explained a little about the extraction process, noting that differential extraction is used to analyze semen and bodily fluid. That type of extraction leads to a non-sperm and sperm fraction.
For the Kaplon case, Kacer explained, she formed six reports.
The first report was formed after reference samples from Kaplon and the alleged child victim were analyzed in March 2009. The reference samples were developed from swabs taken from the genital area and blood samples.
The swab from the child included a “very low amount” of sperm, Kacer said. In the case of the largest primary contribution, Kaplon was excluded as a source, she said. But in two low-level alleles found in a non-sperm fraction, Kaplon could not be excluded as the source.
The child could not be excluded as the source of three low-level alleles in the non-sperm fraction of the penial swab, she said.
A second report was formed from analysis of swabs from the child’s father, great uncle and another male sleeping in the apartment the morning she was allegedly kidnapped. The tests were performed in July 2009.
Analysis concluded that all three of the men could be excluded as the primary male contributor from the girl’s swab as well as sources of the low-level alleles.
Report three was a duplicate test on more portions of the penial swabs.
The fourth report summarized results from testing of three men who helped find the girl, a friend of Kaplon’s as well as some DNA testing from a hospital blanket the girl sat on following the alleged incident.
Nick Super and Jack Feneley were excluded as sources of any of the contributing sperm. George Flippen Jr. and Wayne Courts Jr. could not be excluded as the primary male contributors but were excluded as sources of the low-level alleles.
Kaplon could not be excluded as the contributor of sperm samples found on the blanket, while all other males tested could be excluded, Kacer said.
In further analysis of the blanket that formed the basis for report five, completed in February 2011, Kaplon once again could not be excluded as a source while the other males tested could be excluded, with the exception of Flippen being unable to be excluded as the source or two low-level alleles in a sperm fraction from one stain.
The sixth report revealed that the owner of a tackle box found at the scene where the car allegedly used to kidnap the girl was found could be excluded as a source of any samples.
Criminalist Carolyn Heitsman of the Department of Justice in Redding also testified to DNA evidence, specifically on a pair of boxer shorts. There was a mix of DNA consistent with Kaplon, and the alleged child victim in the case could not be excluded as a source of two low-level alleles.
But due to the small amount of DNA that was able to be obtained from the shorts, Heitsman said the child could be included on “chance alone.”
Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigator Dave Young closed out the day of testimony, sharing his observations of Kaplon after he had been taken into custody. He testified to several abrasion on his arms, legs and thigh area; areas covered in dirt; discoloration under his eyes; and several tattoos.
Testimony resumes today at 9 a.m.

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/x181936719/Kody-Kaplon-trial-DNA-experts-testify

Kody Kaplon trial: ‘Hairy’ day in court

Posted Aug 10, 2011 @ 09:08 AM
“His hair is different now.”
That’s what the alleged child victim in the Kody Kaplon case told her support person as she walked out of the courtroom following her testimony weeks ago, her support person testified Tuesday.
Valerie Linfoot was with the child Wednesday, July 27 when she offered testimony about a March 2, 2009 incident in which Kaplon, a 25-year-old Hornbrook resident, allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted her, drove her into the Humbug hills, choked her and buried her.
The girl was found by a few miners in the area later that day.
Kaplon’s booking photo from the time of his arrest shows him with lots of hair, although it is relatively short. Now his head is nearly shaved.
Of particular interest to District Attorney Kirk Andrus and his coworkers is how Kaplon’s facial hair changed even in the midst of the trial.
When opening statements began Tuesday, July 26, Kaplon had a mustache and goatee that encircled his mouth, Yreka Police Department Chief Brian Bowles testified Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the day the girl was to testify, he showed up to court clean-shaven.
An investigator for the DA’s Office pointed it out to Bowles, he said, and Bowles pointed it out to Andrus, who made sure to point it out in court.
Linfoot also testified to more that happened outside the courtroom the day of the child’s testimony.
The tackle box of Jimmy Browand was found at the area in the Humbug hills where the car Kaplon allegedly drove the girl in was found. Public Defender Andrew Marx previously said that could be the “smoking gun” that proves somebody else committed or was at least involved in the crime.
Linfoot said she was with the girl when Andrus and Supervising Investigator Marc Perrin of the DA’s Office showed her a photo of Browand that day in Andrus’ office. Andrus asked if she knew the man and she said she didn’t know him, Linfoot said.
In his cross-examination of Perrin, Marx asked if he had attempted to get a photo of Browand from 2009 rather than the one shown that was from July 2011. Perrin said he had not.
As they sat in the hallway waiting to go into the courtroom for the child’s testimony, Linfoot said, they were sitting diagonal from Browand, who had also been called to testify.
“I pointed to him and asked her if she knew that man and she said no,” Linfoot said.
Lt. Dave Gamache of the YPD also took the stand as he helped explain a video that was shown to the jury. The video recorded a trip, by car, into the Humbug hills to the spot where the car was found.
With those witnesses, the prosecution rested its case, at least partially. Another witness for the prosecution will appear Thursday.
Marx began his defense case with Robert Shelton, a private investigator on contract with the Public Defender’s Office.
He spoke about an experiment conducted at the scene where the car was found. The experiment consisted of digging several holes the day before a storm and observing the amount of sediment that ran into the holes.
The reason for the experiment, he said, was because testimony at a preliminary hearing surmised that the hole the child was allegedly buried in could not be found because it had been washed away by heavy rain the night of March 2.
Andrus took issue with the fact that Shelton didn’t have pictures of the experiment – Shelton said he had misplaced them – and that he had used a monitoring station at Montague Airport – far away from Humbug – to determine how much rain had fallen both the night of the incident and the night of the experiment.
Shelton also testified to his observations of Kaplon recorded by photos soon after the incident and recently. Marks that had been noted on his thigh could be described more as “stretch marks” than any sort of wound, Shelton said.
The day ended with the playing of an audio interview with George Flippen Jr., one of the miners who found the girl.
Marx claims that the interview – unlike the emotional interview given in court – shows bias against Kaplon.
In the interview, Flippen states, “I have my own personal feelings about it (the incident) and wants, but nothing to act on. He left her for dead. That’s the part that bothers me. ... As far as I’m concerned, put him away, drop him. Drop him in a hole and leave him there.”
The trial resumes today at 9 a.m.
http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/x1837731028/Kody-Kaplon-trial-Hairy-day-in-court

Kody Kaplon trial: Testimony on hold

No testimony will be heard in the Kody Kaplon trial until next Thursday, and the plan is that the case will be ready for jury deliberation by next Friday.
Kaplon, a 25-year-old Hornbrook resident, is charged with attempted murder, sexual intercourse with a victim under 10 years of age, sexual penetration with a foreign object with a victim under 10 years of age, two counts of sexual oral copulation with a victim under 10 years of age, kidnapping and endangering the health of a child.
His trial began July 26, and his attorney, Andrew Marx of the Siskiyou County Public Defender’s Office, began presenting his case Tuesday, Aug. 9.
Due to the unavailability of one final defense witness until late next week, Siskiyou County Superior Court Judge Laura Masunaga told the jury members and alternates Wednesday morning that the court would be dark for the rest of the day and through Aug. 18.
Testimony will resume that day, and Masunaga is expecting Marx and Siskiyou County District Attorney Kirk Andrus to also offer closing arguments that day or the following day.
The case should be submitted to the jury for deliberation by the end of the week, Masunaga told the jury. That is a week earlier than was estimated during jury selection, she said.
When the matter is submitted to the jury, they will have several things to consider.
Masunaga, Andrus and Marx used the afternoon to discuss jury instructions that will be given before deliberation starts. The instructions will include the options for charging Kaplon.
The count of endangering the health of a child likely won’t be included in the charges for the jury, Masunaga said, because she has determined that there must be proof of an element of care or custody of the child. That element is not something that can be forcibly taken, such as by kidnapping, and therefore the charge does not seem to apply to the situation, Masunaga said.
As for the other charges, the jury will have the ability to decide if Kaplon is guilty or not guilty. If they find him not guilty of a certain charge, there may be lesser charges they can find him guilty of.
The attempted murder charge has a lesser charge of attempted murder without malice aforethought.
The sexual charges each have a lesser charge of an attempt to commit. They can also be charged as a simple assault or battery.
There is no lesser charge for the kidnapping that Masunaga could find.
The trial will resume at 9 a.m. Aug. 18.

Correction to previous story

In a story entitled “DNA experts testify” in the Tuesday, Aug. 9 edition of the Siskiyou Daily News, it was stated that, “George Flippen Jr. and Wayne Courts Jr. could not be excluded as the primary male contributors but were excluded as sources of the low-level alleles.” Flippen and Courts actually could be excluded as primary contributors but could not be excluded from the two low-level alleles. District Attorney Kirk Andrus explained the situation this way: “‘Could not be excluded’ in this sense means that, due to the limited amount of genetic material found in some locations, a full DNA profile could not be developed from some of the evidence. The few markers that were found could be shared by a significant portion of the population and don’t point definitively to any one person. Anyone who shares those markers could be said to ‘not be excluded’ as a person who could have left that genetic material.” The Daily News apologizes for the error.
http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/x782949378/Kody-Kaplon-trial-Testimony-on-hold

Kody Kaplon trial comes to an end

By Jamie Gentner
Siskiyou Daily News
Posted Aug 19, 2011 @ 09:54 AM

The two-year-old case of a Hornbrook man charged with sexually assaulting, kidnapping and attempting to kill a Yreka girl will soon be over.
The case of Kody Kaplon, a 25-year-old Hornbrook man, was back in session Thursday after a week of being dark.
Kaplon faces charges stemming from a March 2, 2009 incident involving a then-3-year-old girl.
The day began with testimony from Barbara Phillips, a latent print analyst for the California Department of Justice.
After explaining how fingerprint comparisons are made, she testified to analyzing several finger and palm prints in this case.
Although many prints found on the car Kaplon allegedly used to drive the girl to a remote area in the Humbug hills were unusable because mud blurred detail, Phillips said she did find several usable prints.
One palm print on the passenger side tail light was able to be identified as Kaplon’s left palm. Another palm print on the top left of the driver’s side door window was also identified as Kaplon’s left palm.
In addition, a print lifted from a beer can submitted as evidence was identified as Kaplon’s right middle finger.
When Siskiyou County District Attorney Kirk Andrus asked Phillips how sure she was the prints matched Kaplon, she said, “There is no doubt in my mind.”
During cross-examination, Public Defender Andrew Marx questioned the ability for finger and palm prints to be used to undoubtedly identify a person.
He cited the case of Brandon Mayfield, a Portland-area lawyer mistakenly arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in connection with Madrid train bombings, as an example of how fingerprints can mistakenly identify a suspect. The case has caused the FBI to re-evaluate its fingerprint matching techniques, Marx said.
Phillips assured both sides that the conclusions of analysts are independently confirmed by at least one supervisor.
After Phillips was questioned, both sides rested their case. After nearly an hour of jury instructions, Andrus began his closing arguments.
Andrus told the jury that he believes the evidence provided in the case has gone above a reasonable doubt, which is required for a jury to find someone guilty. He asked the jury to find Kaplon guilty of all charges.
He walked through the charges Kaplon faces with the jury, explaining the basis for each charge.
The charges include two counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old, attempted murder, sexual intercourse with a child 10 years old or younger, two counts of oral copulation of a child 10 years old or younger, kidnapping, injuring a child and child abuse likely to produce death or great bodily injury.
The prosecution is also seeking several special allegations, including that the injury of a child produced great bodily injury and that the sexual offenses were made a more dangerous situation by the suspect kidnapping the child.
It was also explained that if the jury does not find Kaplon guilty of the main charges, there are lesser charges of which they could find him guilty. Each of the sexual acts has lesser charges of an attempt or battery. The attempted murder – which could be charged as first- or second-degree murder – has a lesser charge of attempted voluntary manslaughter. The charge of injuring a child also has a lesser charge of battery.
Though the DNA evidence didn’t match perfectly, Andrus said that Kaplon couldn’t be excluded from almost every sample, “because he is the donor. Nothing makes him less guilty.”
And no matter what else was said in the trial, Andrus said one witness is sufficient to prove the allegations as long as the jury believed her – and that is the alleged child victim.
“She is small in every way physically ... but that doesn’t make her any less believable than anyone else,” Andrus said. “She is enough. ... She is whip smart. ... Her recollection of the events is outstanding. It’s amazing she was able to recall such detail. ... That is diamond truth. No child could make up such details without those things actually happening to her.”
And he argued that other testimony and evidence throughout the trial corroborated her testimony.
“This case is an odyssey of a young child that would have lost her life if it wasn’t for the heroic rescue efforts of those involved,” Andrus said. “Just because she didn’t doesn’t mean it’s no harm, no foul. ... I ask you to find the defendant guilty of all charges.”
Marx will present his closing statements today, followed by Andrus’ rebuttal. After that, the case is expected to be turned over to the jury for deliberation. Look for coverage of Marx’s closing arguments in Monday’s Daily News.

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/x386669072/Kody-Kaplon-trial-comes-to-an-end

YREKA, Calif.—A Siskiyou
County man could spend the rest of his life in prison after he was
convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 3-year-old girl, then
burying her alive in rural hills outside of town. A jury on
Monday found Kody Kaplon, 25, guilty of nine counts, including attempted
murder, kidnapping and lewd acts with a child.
Kaplon faces a maximum of 91 years to life in prison when he's sentenced on Oct. 13, prosecutors said.
According
to authorities, Kaplon attended a house party thrown by the victim's
parents on March 2, 2009, and fled with the child overnight. The girl's
father told investigators that he awoke to the sound of screams as
Kaplon drove away with her.
Three miners found the girl later
in the day shivering under a bush near Kaplon's car, in the Humbug
Hills northwest of Yreka. She told investigators her abductor took most
of her clothes, choked her and buried her. She then dug herself out.

Kaplon's lawyer, Andrew Marx, maintained that his client was not
the girl's attacker, arguing that some DNA evidence found at the scene
did not match him.
"Obviously this young lady was treated inappropriately by somebody, but it wasn't Mr. Kaplon," Marx said.
The victim, now 6, took the stand in a closed court session.
After
the verdict was read, District Attorney J. Kirk Andrus told the
Siskiyou Daily News that he was happy with the outcome and glad that the
jurors "were able to see what an amazingchild this is."
"Primarily,
I am very pleased that the family was vindicated by this verdict. They
had such significant trauma, and I think this verdict will help them to
heal," Andrus said.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_18740606

WEB UPDATE: Kaplon sentenced to life in prison

Posted Oct 13, 2011 @ 12:39 PM

Kody Kaplon, the 25-year-old Hornbrook man that was found guilty in August of sexually assaulting, kidnapping, choking, burying and leaving a 3-year-old girl in the Humbug hills was sentenced today. That sentence included a life prison term.
Following a four-week trial nearly two and a half years after he was taken into custody, a 12-person jury found Kaplon guilty of kidnapping, two counts of lewd or lascivious acts upon a child under the age of 14, sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 10, two counts of oral copulation of a child under the age of 10, attempted murder, corporal injury to a child and endangering the health of a child. They also found several special allegations – including causing great bodily injury to a child under the age of 5 and that moving the child (kidnapping) substantially increased harm to the child – to be true.
During his sentencing hearing, which was held in front of a standing-room only audience, Siskiyou County Superior Court Judge Laura Masunaga said she considered the fact that the case included a young victim. She also said she considered each charge as a different offense because Kaplon demonstrated several intents and objectives and did not change his mind about his actions when he had several opportunities to do so.
While Kaplon’s record left no indication that he would have committed such a severe crime, Masunaga said she did not see that he has demonstrated any kind of remorse for his actions or taken responsibility for the crimes.
For those reasons, as Kaplon stood with Public Defender Andrew Marx, Masunaga announced that Kaplon would serve a determinate sentence of 14 years followed by an indeterminate term of 87 years to life in state prison.
For more details about the sentence and remarks from attorneys, look for the full story in Friday’s edition of the Siskiyou Daily News.

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/x661603291/WEB-UPDATE-Kaplon-sentenced-to-life-in-prison