Opening statements in the trial of Samuel Woodward are expected to begin Tuesday more than six years after he was arrested for the stabbing death of his former classmate, Blaze Bernstein. NBC Los Angeles’ Hetty Chang reports.
It’s been six years since the body of college student Blaze Bernstein was found in a shallow grave in Borrego Park in Lake Forest.
After repeated delays in court proceedings, Samuel Woodward, the man accused of stabbing and killing Berstein, will finally face his trial starting Tuesday.
Prosecutors have argued that the brutal murder of Bernstein was hate motivated because the then-19-year-old was Jewish and gay.
NBC Los Angeles has learned the trial is expected to last two to three months in large part because there are many potential witnesses who could be called to testify. The court is also expected to hear from dozens of law enforcement officials.
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The family and friends of both Bernstein and Woodward could also be witnesses.
The trial against Woodward has been inching forward for years, but delays have stalled the opening statements until Tuesday.
Bernstein, whose body had multiple stab wounds, was found not too far from his parents' home in Lake Forest.
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Woodward, who went to the Orange County School of Arts with Bernstein, was arrested five days after the two met up. Before his death, Bernstein, who was attending the University of Pennsylvania at the time, was visiting his family for winter break.
Former Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackaucka had said digital evidence collected from Woodward’s cell phone, laptop and social media contained “graphic, chilling” images and "can be described as spewing hate toward almost every protected group."
Rackaucka had also said the texts and photos by Woodward were racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, misogynistic and anti-government.
