Informant’s Claim Against Lam Delays Trial 2nd Time

Opening statements in the trial of Minh Van Lam were postponed for a second time Tuesday while attorneys discussed a jail house informant who claims he heard Lam say he deliberately killed Cal State Fullerton professor Edward Lee Cooperman.

The informant, Paul David Cisneros, 26, reportedly has a history of helping police in Orange County cities, mostly in drug cases. He reportedly told district attorney investigators he has testified in more than 40 cases. It could not be learned why he was in the Orange County Jail or when he could have talked with Lam.

Admitted Shooting Professor

Lam, a 21-year-old Vietnamese refugee and former student of Cooperman, has admitted he fatally shot the physics professor last Oct. 13 at his campus office. But Lam claims that it was an accident and that the two were practicing defense moves with the gun when it went off.

Lam’s first trial ended in a hung jury last month.

Because of Superior Court Judge Richard J. Beacom’s gag order issued Monday, neither the prosecutor nor defense attorneys will discuss the statement Cisneros made to the police. Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. James Enright refused to say whether he intends to call Cisneros as a witness.

But Enright walked out of Beacom’s chambers Tuesday with a tape recorder in his hand and apparently had just finished playing Cisneros’ taped statement for defense attorneys Alan May and George Chula. The jurors, who were supposed to be hearing opening statements Tuesday, were dismissed for the day by Beacom and told to return this morning.

Jurors Already Picked

Authorities only learned about Cisneros last weekend, after the jury had already been selected. May declined to discuss how the informant might affect the case, but in some trials where an unexpected witness shows up after jury selection, such as a jail house informant, defense attorneys argue for a mistrial on grounds that they didn’t get to question potential jurors about their attitudes toward such witnesses.

Also, prosecutors are required to turn over to defense attorneys all police reports concerning such alleged confessions.

Opening statements originally had been scheduled for Monday but were postponed for reasons not made clear after Enright reportedly informed defense attorneys about Cisneros.

Lam Denies Discussing Case

Cisneros reportedly claimed in his statement to police that Lam admitted to him that the shooting was more than an accident. But it could not be learned whether Cisneros claimed that Lam said he deliberately shot the professor.

May said prior to Monday’s gag order that Lam vehemently denies discussing his case with anyone at the jail.

Another jail house informant had talked to district attorney investigators prior to the first trial, but prosecutors decided not to use his testimony because his story lacked credibility.