Jan 18, 2008 8:54 pm US/Pacific
Judge Rules SF Can Examine Tiger Victims' Phones
SAN JOSE (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
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Paul Dhaliwal, left, walks in front of brother Kulbir Dhaliwal.
CBS
A Santa Clara County judge ruled late Friday that lawyers for the city of San Francisco may inspect the cell phones, but not the car, of two San Jose brothers who survived a Christmas Day attack by a zoo tiger.
Although San Francisco police obtained and executed a search warrant for both the car and the phones as part of a criminal investigation, Superior Court Judge Socrates Manoukian said the city presented only hearsay evidence to justify examining the car's contents as part of a civil probe.
Lawyers for the city and the San Francisco Zoological Society, the nonprofit organization that runs the zoo, asked the court for an order granting the search in anticipation of the city being sued. The city said it wanted to preserve evidence that could be helpful to the defense.
The Dec. 25 maulings claimed the life of Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, and injured his friends, brothers Paul Dhaliwal, 19 and Kulbir Dhaliwal, 24.
In his order, the judge ruled that searching the Dhaliwals' BMW "would encourage nothing more than a fishing expedition," but indicated that photos stored in the cell phones might show what led up to the attack by the 250-pound Siberian tiger named Tatiana.
"Under the maxim that a picture is worth a thousand words, the Court believes that the allegation of existence or nonexistence of any photographs is specific enough to justify an attempt to perpetuate them,'' Manoukian wrote in his order.
Police think the trio may have gotten on top of a railing and teased the tiger before she clawed her way out and attacked.
The victims' phones and the car have been in SFPD custody since the night of the attacks pending the outcome of the criminal investigation. A search warrant affadavit filed Thursday revealed police found an open vodka bottle and a small amount of marijuana in the car, but did not indicate whether the phones had any relevant photos on them.
"I'm very pleased with Judge Manoukian's ruling, which allows our investigators to inspect the cell phones belonging to the Dhaliwal brothers," City Attorney Dennis Herrera said Friday night. "In conjunction with the information obtained under the police department's search warrant, my initial concerns about protecting the integrity of the evidence have been satisfied."
At a hearing earlier this week before Manoukian, the Dhaliwals' attorney Shepard Kopp said he would likely appeal any decision granting city and zoo officials access to the car or phones.
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