Mona Lisa makes a cameo in South Bay kidnapping/rape trial

After covering the court beat in the South Bay for nearly a decade, I've learned that some of the attorney have their "things" - those tried and true schpiels they use before a jury to make their point. More often than not, arguments in criminal trials focus on identity, since many cases are true "whodunits."

In Brian Foucher's trial, which just went to the jury this afternoon, all four victims picked Foucher in police photos as the man who kidnapped, or tried to kidnap, them from streets in Inglewood and Rancho Palos Verdes over a two-day period in February 2002. While none of the victims gave, or could possibly give, exact descriptions on such things as weight, height and eye color - they all said they were positive or 100 percent sure he was the predator who used a gun to confront them.

The prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Jodi Link, is head of sex crimes at the Torrance branch. She's been there almost as long as I've been here and, because of the nature of the cases she's handled, our paths cross very often and I've seen her handle more than a dozen trials, easily. Now, I can sometimes predict which of her trial tricks will appear in closing argument.

So I wasn't surprised when she asked the jury to think about Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa in making her point about the sanctity of the victims' identifications. She asked them to think what side she parts her hair on, if she's wearing a necklace and the neckline of her shirt - turtleneck, v-neck, scoop neck? I always, always get at least one of the items wrong in my own head during this little exercise.

Then, she holds up the photo. There's a big difference between the ability to describe an individual and the ability to recognize them, she says. "You would know her when you saw her and you would be able to recognize her," she adds.

The jurors deliberated a couple hours today and will return Thursday afternoon because of Wednesday's court furlough. My story on today's closing arguments will be posted later tonight.