MURRIETA: Pimp testifies in murder plot case

Michael Ward tells jurors he only wanted teen girl intimidated, not killed

By JOHN HALL - Staff Writer | Monday, November 24, 2008 8:23 PM PST ∞

FRENCH VALLEY ---- A self-admitted pimp told jurors Monday that he tried to keep one of his underage prostitutes from testifying against him, but said he did not plot to have her killed, as alleged by prosecutors.

Michael Durrell Ward of Murrieta spent his 24th birthday on the witness stand, testifying on his own behalf. He is charged with conspiring to commit murder, dissuade a witness and commit robbery. He also is accused of committing the crimes to benefit a criminal street gang, which authorities say called themselves Pimpin' Hos Daily, or PHD.

Two co-defendants are also on trial. Ira Henry Hatchett and Andre Jeriel Jacques, both 24, also are charged with conspiring to dissuade a witness and to commit robbery. Ward's 55-year-old mother, Damita, is charged with being an accessory in a felony to help someone escape arrest or trial.

Prosecutors say Michael Ward conspired in 2005, while in county jail facing pimping charges, to have a then-16-year-old Temecula girl killed after learning she was cooperating with law enforcement.

Deputy District Attorney Brandon Smith played hours of recorded jail telephone calls involving Ward for the seven-woman, five-man jury. Murrieta police Detective Phil Gomez translated many of the conversations, saying Ward and those on the other end of the calls used slang and codes when discussing the alleged murder plot.

Ward's attorney, James Curtis, called his client to the stand Monday and asked him questions ranging from what kind of pimp he was to whether he really did try to have the teen girl killed.

"Did you make efforts to keep (the girl) from testifying?" Curtis asked Ward.

"Yes," he answered, but then explained that he was only trying to intimidate her.

Ward said he knew someone who had recently been involved in witness intimidation and was sentenced to a year in county jail. Because he knew he was facing 17 years in prison for pimping, he said, he wasn't worried if he got caught intimidating the witness in his own case.

Ward told jurors that he didn't care how the girl was prevented from testifying ---- whether through threats or being assaulted ---- just that she be intimidated enough to not cooperate with prosecutors.

But, he said, he wasn't asking for her to be killed.

"She didn't deserve to die," Ward said. "I wasn't planning a murder over the jail phone."

Ward admitted that he was angry during many of the jail calls.

"My blood was boiling, I was very upset," he testified. "Everything I had worked on was taken away from me, all because she decided to cooperate with law enforcement."

Ward said he met the 16-year-old girl in January 2005 when a couple of his friends brought her to his house.

"She was intrigued by me for some reason, probably because I had a house and cars," Ward told jurors.

Ward told jurors there are three types of pimps: those who use force to control their prostitutes, those who use drugs to control the women and pimps who use finesse.

Ward described himself as "the finesse guy," not by any particular choice but because "that's who I was."

"I used sweet talk, made them believe I wanted to spend the rest of my life with them," Ward said.

He said used his "finesse" on the 16-year-old Temecula girl, adding that he had no emotional attachment to her.

"Basically, it's all about the money," Ward said.

During his time as a pimp, Ward estimates he had about 25 to 30 girls working for him as prostitutes.

He advertised their services on the Internet through sites such as craigslist, Ward said. He also would have his girls work on various streets known to be frequented by prostitutes.

Ward told jurors he spent "at least 10 hours a day" on his pimping operation, a lot of it on the computer.

But his life as a pimp began to crumble when the teen girl started to cooperate with Murrieta police officers as they investigated Ward's operation.

In July 2005, Ward said he left the state because "my face was posted all over the news" as police were looking for him.

"I was scared," he said. "I had money, so my first thought was to get outta Dodge."

So Ward said he and one of his other prostitutes drove to Las Vegas, Tennessee, North Carolina and ultimately Texas, where he was finally arrested and brought back to California by Murrieta police detectives.

It was during that trip back to California that Murrieta Detective Phil Gomez became suspicious of comments made by Ward and, believing he might try to kill the girl, started having all of Ward's jail calls recorded.

Ward testified that Gomez misinterpreted his comments.

Ward pleaded guilty in 2006 to the pimping charge, admitting that he committed the crime to benefit a criminal street gang, court records state. He was sentenced to five years in state prison.

If convicted on the current charges, Ward faces a possible sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

Ward is expected to continue his testimony Tuesday at Southwest Justice Center in the courtroom of Judge F. Paul Dickerson.

Staff writer Aaron Claverie contributed to this report. Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or jhall@californian.com.