A parolee accused of abducting, carjacking, robbing and murdering a 17-year-old Los Feliz girl in broad daylight last summer was ordered Monday to stand trial.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David S. Wesley denied the defense's motion to dismiss the case against Charlie Samuel, who is charged in the July 24, 2009, slaying of Lily Burk.
The ruling came after about 1 1/2 days of testimony, including a DNA analyst's account that a blood sample from the teenager matched the genetic profile of blood taken from a short-sleeved shirt allegedly worn by the 50-year-old defendant.
Cristina Gonzalez, a senior criminalist with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, told the judge that the likelihood of that DNA profile was 1 out of 165 quadrillion, noting there are only 6.5 billion people on Earth.
The shirt also contained lower DNA levels from a second contributor -- with Samuel included as a possible contributor in what could be "wearer's DNA" on an item habitually worn by a person, the criminalist testified.
Allan Villacorte, a latent prints examiner for the Los Angeles Police Department, testified that he compared fingerprints taken from the defendant and a latent print recovered from a Coca-Cola can found on a floorboard in Burk's black Volvo, and determined that "they were both from the same individual."
Samuel is charged with one count each of murder, kidnapping to commit robbery, carjacking, kidnapping for carjacking, second-degree robbery and attempted first-degree automated teller machine robbery, along with the special circumstance allegations of murder during a kidnapping, robbery and carjacking.
Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty for Samuel, who they allege has a 1987 robbery conviction from San Bernardino County and a 2006 conviction from Van Nuys for petty theft with a prior.
The teenage victim had injuries from head to toe, including a fatal wound to her neck, according to a deputy medical examiner's testimony.
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"The cause of death was (an) incised wound to the neck," Dr. Jeffrey P. Gutstadt said as he began detailing the girl's injuries.
Under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Deborah Brazil, the deputy medical examiner said the fatal wound was consistent with having been inflicted by a sharp object such as a broken glass bottle.
The teen also had two superficial wounds lower on her neck and injuries consistent with bite marks on the left side of her face and left ear, along with bruising on her back and contusions on her knees and feet, Gutstadt testified.
Burk's body was found in the front passenger seat of her black Volvo S40, which was spotted in the parking lot of a food processing plant on Alameda Street the day after she disappeared.
Samuel is accused of abducting the teen as she was about to get into her car near Wilshire Boulevard and Wilshire Place after going to Southwestern University School of Law on the afternoon of July 24, 2009, to pick up some tests for her mother, who is a professor at the school.
Police allege the girl, at Samuel's orders, made unsuccessful attempts to get money from a downtown ATM before calling her parents in an effort to get money.
Surveillance footage taken outside the Union Bank branch at 120 S. San Pedro St. in Los Angeles shows a young woman and a man walk toward an ATM.
In testimony Friday, the law school's security director, James Cromwell, identified Samuel as the man he saw "peering over the top of the gate" at the school earlier that afternoon with a white cup in his hand, then walk in as the gate opened for a car.
He testified that he was "probably about 10 yards" from Samuel, who had gotten a cigarette lit and was walking out the gate about 2:45 that afternoon.
Cromwell said later videotaped surveillance footage showed a man he believed was Samuel crossing over to the east side of the street. A young woman carrying a box walked on the west side of the street, he testified.
Los Angeles police officers testified that they took Samuel into custody after watching him drink from a paper bag containing a can about 5:25 the day the teen disappeared. They said they recovered clothing -- containing what appeared to be a voluminous amount of blood and allegedly worn by Samuel -- discarded in a trash bin.
