Judge tightens monitoring of defendant
Travel requests by Woodward's attorneys also denied in court
John Kevin Woodward must be monitored by a private contractor every minute of every day while awaiting trial on charges that he strangled Laurie Houts three decades ago as she drove home from her job in Mountain View, a Santa Clara County judge ruled on Dec. 7.
Woodward also was denied multiple travel requests in a hearing that dealt several blows to Woodward's ability to leave his house while awaiting trial for a third time in the 1992 killing. The slaying gained notoriety for prosecutors' controversial — and ultimately unsuccessful — bids to win convictions against him in the mid-1990s, which were criticized as homophobic.
A contractor called Options will conduct the court-ordered monitoring, amid concerns that the court's pretrial services division can't adequately monitor Woodward, said Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Hector E. Ramon. Woodward is due back in court March 22.
Houts, 25, was killed Sept. 5, 1992, while she drove home from her job at Adobe Systems in Mountain View. Investigators discovered signs of a struggle in her car. Nearby, her pocketbook was found unopened.
Woodward was arrested on the latest charges in July after arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York from his home in the Netherlands. He works for Readytech, an online training that Woodward once ran as CEO before later stepping down from that role. The company's United States headquarters are in Oakland.
Two previous prosecutions in the mid-1990s against Woodward ended in hung juries, with the jurors in those cases favoring
acquittal by margins of 8-4 and 7-5. The first trial gained notoriety for prosecutors' claims that Woodward, who is gay, was jealous of Houts' relationship with Woodward's male roommate. The approach was criticized as homophobic, and the judge presiding at Woodward's second trial barred prosecutors from exploring that motive.
The case appeared to go cold until July, when prosecutors announced new charges against Woodward after an updated DNA analysis of the rope used to strangle Houts appeared to further tie him to the killing. In August, a judge cited the two previous mistrials in granting Woodward bail and home detention
in Modesto while he waits trial.
On Dec. 7, Judge Ramon denied requests by Woodward's attorneys for him to visit a gym, take a trip to winterize one of his homes in Mendocino County or to visit an airport to pick up or drop off his children when they visit. In doing so, Ramon sided with Barbara Cathcart, a deputy district attorney who voiced her “incredibly strong” objections to Woodward making the airport visits. She noted that Woodward still had a driver's license, international connections and resources to flee, should he want to.
Currently, Woodward can leave home only for a short list
of activities, including for court hearings, visits with his attorneys and medical appointments.
“I think that's enough,” Ramon said.
Houts' family issued a statement after the hearing calling for people with additional information about the slaying to come forward to prosecutors — noting that “no detail is too small.” Houts' family has strongly objected to Woodward's release on bail, voicing concerns that Woodward would hurt someone else while free.
“Friends and family continue to mourn her death and hope new DNA evidence will lead to Woodward's conviction,” the family's statement said.