County Wants to Recover $300,000 : Peyer’s Legal Bills to Go to Court

County officials next month will begin efforts to recover an estimated $300,000 from former California Highway Patrolman Craig Peyer to cover county-paid legal bills amassed during Peyer’s two murder trials.

Because Peyer was declared indigent and unable to afford counsel after his arrest Jan. 15, 1987, he was provided with two defense lawyers at county expense. Bills for the attorneys’ services and related expenses through May of this year totaled $262,678; the total tab is expected to reach $300,000.

Morris Pion, director of the county’s Department of Revenue and Recovery, said officials will request a court hearing within the next 30 days to determine whether Peyer has the ability to repay his legal bills. The former patrolman was fired from his $35,000-a-year job in May, 1987, after an administrative report flatly concluded that he killed Knott.

Will Get Financial Statement

“We will ask for a financial statement and let the court determine if we should have a judgment for any or all of the costs,” Pion said. “We will look at his income, his wife’s income, the home and other assets in computing what amount is available for recovery.”

Peyer, 38, was convicted last week of first-degree murder in the slaying of Cara Knott, a 20-year-old San Diego State University student who disappeared while driving home the night of Dec. 27, 1986. Prosecutors say Peyer stopped Knott at the Mercy Road exit, strangled her and threw her body into a ravine, where it was found the next morning by police.

Jurors in Peyer’s first trial deadlocked on the murder charge in February. The jury in the second, monthlong trial returned its verdict Wednesday after five days of deliberations.

Peyer’s sentencing by Superior Court Judge Richard Huffman is scheduled for July 20. He is being held in protective custody at the downtown County Jail and faces a term of 25 years to life in state prison.

Release on Bail to Be Sought

Attorneys representing Peyer intend to ask Huffman to release the former officer on bail pending an appeal of his conviction, but a spokesman for the district attorney’s office said prosecutors will oppose his release. If bail is denied, Peyer is expected to wind up in Soledad state prison, which has two units for inmates such as former police officers who require protective custody.

Pion said the $262,678 tab covers fees for defense attorneys Robert Grimes and Diane Campbell, investigative costs, witness expenses and other trial-related bills. Grimes was paid $60 an hour, about half his standard rate, and Campbell made $40 an hour. Pion said the total bill will grow when costs for the first three weeks of June are computed.

Peyer, who owns a two-story home in a new Poway subdivision, was declared unable to afford his own attorney 18 months ago because he had no liquid assets, Pion said.

Contrasted with other celebrated trials for which the county footed the defense bill, Peyer’s bill is rather low. Lawyer Milton Silverman’s defense of Sagon Penn, for example, totaled $421,820. After two racially charged trials, Penn was acquitted of major charges in the shooting death of a police officer and the wounding of a second officer and a civilian ride-along.

The county is facing a significantly higher bill for the defense of Laura Troiani and five Marines charged with killing Troiani’s husband, Staff Sgt. Carlo Troiani, in a sensational murder-for-hire case. Figures for death penalty cases are not available until all appeals are exhausted.