Defense attorneys will ask a jury to see Sid Landau as he is now, a frail, aging man who may not have that many years left.
They will try to make a disconnect between that man and the violent predator who was considered too much of a risk to remain free.
Landau, 72, has spent a dozen years in mental hospitals after being labeled a "violent sexual predator" by the State of California.
Now, the former Orange County parolee wants his freedom.
"Based on my review of the psychologists' reports, he's how he's always been," says Deputy Orange County District Attorney Dan Wagner.
Wagner says he will fight to keep Landau confined.
"We’re very concerned about the prospect of Landau’s release," says Wagner. "He’s very much a pedophile and very much a danger to molest little boys if he’s let out of custody."
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Landau's history of seeking freedom goes back to 1996, when near-mobs would follow his every move, forcing him to move from city to city.
He was the first sexual registrant to be "outed" under Megan's Law.
"He became the lightning rod for sexual predators," said Detective Corrine Loomis of the Placentia Police Department. "All the focus was on him, even if there were others within a 50 mile radius of Placentia."
Derek Lewis still lives in the neighborhood where Landau was paroled.
"People need to be aware of the things he did," says Lewis. "They should not let him go."
Defense attorneys say all that was long ago, and Landau is unlikely to offend again. But former neighbors are not buying it.
Asked if he thinks Landau is a changed man, Lewis says, flatly, "no."
