Visiting psychology professor Kerri F. Dunn speaks to students during an anti-hate crime rally at Claremont McKenna College on March 10, 2004, in Claremont.
Posted on 08/13/2004 8:21:31 AM PDT by doug from upland
Professor's past in play at fraud trial
POMONA - Kerri Dunn's past could come back to haunt her if she chooses to take the witness stand in a trial set to begin today.
Dunn, the college professor accused of vandalizing her own car and falsely reporting it as a hate crime, may be confronted during her trial with a 4-year-old allegation that she once faked injuries to herself and then blamed them on police during a shoplifting arrest in Nebraska, a judge ruled Thursday.
Prosecutors may also try to impeach her testimony by questioning her about a shoplifting conviction, as well as allegations that she once posed as a nurse to obtain prescription drugs from a pharmacy.
Prosecutors will not be allowed to confront her with those issues and jurors may never learn of them if the 39-year-old Redlands woman does not testify in the trial.
Prosecutors allege Dunn, a visiting psychology professor at Claremont McKenna College, spray painted racial epithets on her Honda and slashed the car's tires March 9, the same day she spoke at a forum on racism at the Claremont Colleges.
They allege she reported the vandalism as a hate crime to police, and then to her insurance company the following day.
The incident drew widespread attention and prompted the colleges to cancel classes for a day of anti-hate rallies.
Two witnesses later came forward and said they saw Dunn inflict some of the damage.
Jury selection in Dunn's trial began Thursday in Pomona Superior Court, where Dunn is charged with two felony counts of insurance fraud and one misdemeanor count of filing a false police report.
A jury should be chosen by this morning, and opening statements and testimony are to begin today.
Dunn has pleaded not guilty.
A defense strategy to keep secret Dunn's alleged history of bad acts went terribly awry Thursday morning, when Judge Charles Horan refused to allow the issue to be argued in a courtroom closed to the public.
Dunn's attorneys attempted a pre-emptive move to keep the information from the public and potential jurors, filing a sealed motion asking the judge to bar it from evidence before the trial even began.
But Horan refused to close the courtroom for a hearing on the motion. And portions of the attorney's arguments were already under way Thursday morning before Dunn's attorneys realized a newspaper reporter was watching from the courtroom gallery.
After a failed attempt to persuade Horan to clear the courtroom, Dunn's attorneys promptly withdrew the motion, ending further discussions of it.
Chief among the alleged prior bad acts discussed were allegations from 2000, when Dunn was arrested in Nebraska on suspicion of shoplifting.
According to discussions in open court, the woman claimed an officer roughed her up. However, a witness later reported seeing her inflict bruises upon her own arm and tearing the buttons of her own shirt, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Martin Bean told the judge.
The prosecutor also told the judge that Dunn had a prior petty theft conviction and had once pretended to be a nurse and called a pharmacy seeking prescription medication.
Bean declined to comment outside the courtroom regarding the allegations.
Dunn cannot be forced to testify during her trial. If she chooses to do so, prosecutors can ask her about those incidents in front of jurors.
Dunn's attorneys, Gary Lincenberg and Jennifer Coon, told Horan Thursday that they may call Dunn to the stand.
The trial is expected to last about three days.
Rod Leveque can be reached by e-mail at r_leveque@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9325.
Just can't trust a Kerri or a Kerry!
Stick a fork in her, she's Dunn.
Too bad that the two lying scum didn't marry. She could be Kerri Kerry if only she had a billion dollars.
Does she have tenure?
Faking has become part and parcel of academics. I notice they don't say ex-professor. Maybe that's a typo. Has she been fired from anywhere yet?
You ask a good question. Most of us would have reported it right away unless we knew she was doing it to her own car.
This is one very messed up individual.
She Dunn lied. All "liberals" lie. That's all they do.
She was a visiting professor and her contract with the college ended on June 30, 2004, according to http://www.mckenna.edu/news/pressreleases/article.asp?article_id=330
They should make her pay for every penny of the damage she caused.
While she's warping students' minds at CMC...she claimed she's a victim and said "Whoa is me"
Someone slashed her tires and painted her car...she said its a hate crime...Kerri went too far
They have...the goods on that *itch...spray can...she forgot to ditch
It is funny what the leftists pull
They are always staging stunts and slinging bull
It's a real who Dunn it...maybe not
It was just one more pathetic whackjob...plot
But, too bad for her, two witnesses saw what she did...she's busted
Her *ss got hit by the door
On her way out...now her next job's scrubbing floors
Someone slashed her tires and painted her car...she said its a hate crime...Kerri went too far
Somewhere around 99% of "hate crimes" are hoaxes.
The penalty for faking a hate crime should be the same as the penalty for the actual hate crime since the damage to the community (fear, paranoia, increased racial hatred the fake crime sparks) is the same as if the actual crime had been committed.
Hey, hey, hey...there are SOME girls named Kerri that you can trust.
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