Deal could end murder trial

On May 31, Liu must either accept the terms or head to trial. If he chooses the latter, opening statements aren't expected until mid- to late-June.

Prosecutors actually offered Liu a potential deal months ago but the Mountain View man refused to take it. Yesterday's agreement offers Liu the chance at parole unlike the life sentence he faced by heading to trial. The deal will also spare witnesses one more experience on the stand. Nearly all expected witnesses have already had two turns before a jury, detailing their harrowing ordeals when confronted with confessed gang leader Seti Christopher Scanlan and alleged accomplices Liu, Sikai Telea and Amu "Billy" Wynn.

David Martel, whose wife Alice was shot by Scanlan during the Oct. 11, 2002 takeover robbery, spoke with prosecutors at length Wednesday night before acquiescing to the plea offer. Martel, left to raise two small sons after his wife's death, has already sat through Scanlan's penalty trial and parts of Telea's current criminal trial. When jurors failed to return a death verdict for Scanlan last summer, Martel decried them as having failed. He appeared to have no less vitriol for the other men held responsible for killing his 34-year-old wife.

Scanlan shot Martel in the abdomen as she stood in the doorway of her office and she died from internal bleeding hours later. Telea shot her co-worker in the shoulder as he hid under a desk but he survived. The man netted about $8,000 from the Wells Fargo Bank heist which took less than minute.

Liu, the getaway driver, never entered the bank but is considered just as culpable under California's felony murder law. Three weeks later, in Mountain View, the three men plus Semisi Umufuke robbed a Carl's Jr. restaurant and convenience store simultaneously before leading police on a high-speed shoot out. The chase ended when the men's SUV, driven by Liu, crashed in East Palo Alto. Again, Liu did not fire a weapon but prosecutor Steve Wagstaffe contends his reckless driving was just as dangerous. The Chevrolet Tahoe t-boned into a red mustang whose driver narrowly escaped.

"It was pure fate he wasn't killed. Liu's driving of the car is the same as if he fired a bullet out of a gun," Wagstaffe said while readying Liu's case earlier this week.

If Liu takes the offer, only Wynn remains to stand trial. Scanlan is currently serving multiple life sentences without parole in Corcoran State Prison. Umufuke pleaded no contest to a lesser handful of charges and is serving a seven-year prison term.

Wagstaffe did not completely rule out the possibility of Wynn making a deal but said it would be nowhere near the lower term offered Liu. Wynn has admitted firing a gun inside the bank - one shot into the ceiling - and cannot barter with testimony against the others.

Liu remains in custody on no-bail status.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 104. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.