Pimping claims could be raised at trial

Erica D. Johnson

Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2004 | 9:28 a.m.

Jurors in the upcoming trial of a local R&B singer charged in a double homicide could hear details linking the accused killer to other crimes, prosecutors said Tuesday.

During a pretrial hearing before District Judge Sally Loehrer, prosecutors said information presented at trial might further incriminate Alfonso "Slinkey" Blake, 33.

The information relates to claims by one of Blake's female roommates that he was a pimp who lived off the earnings of several prostitutes and that he routinely beat her and two other women who lived with them.

The woman, Ginah Chung, is expected to testify at trial. Loehrer said she would allow prosecutors to present the information only if it was necessary to prove Chung's credibility.

Blake's trial was set to begin next week, but it was postponed until March 22 at the request of Blake's defense lawyer, Pete Christiansen.

Blake could be sentenced to death if he is convicted.

Blake faces two counts of murder with a deadly weapon in the shooting that killed Sophear Choy, 19, and Priscilla Van Dine, 22. He also faces one count of attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon in the shooting of Kim Choy, 23, who was shot in the head but survived.

Prosecutors on Monday also confirmed that another man, Patrick Jones, could possibly be indicted on charges relating to the March 5 shootings.

Jones was served a Marcum notice, meaning prosecutors could be planning to press criminal charges against him via a grand jury indictment. Grand jury proceedings are secret and it was unclear what charges he would face. The charges would be in a separate case from Blake's.

Chief Deputy District Attorneys Christopher Lalli and Robert Daskas said while they did not believe Jones was a co-conspirator in the shooting involving Blake, he likely destroyed important evidence afterward.

"(Johnson) is probably an accessory after the fact," Daskas said.

Prosecutors believe Jones burned some of Blake's clothes that could have linked Blake to the killings. Jones could be called to testify in Blake's trial, they said.

Christiansen said he would like more time to investigate Jones' alleged connection to the crime.

Along with Kim Choy, Chung could also be a key witness in the state's case against Blake. Chung was with Blake when he was arrested in Barstow, Calif., three days after the killings. Though she initially would not give authorities information in Blake's presence, she talked to authorities after the two were separated, Daskas said.

She was even able to identify the murder weapon, prosecutors said.

Daskas and Lalli said Chung moved in with Blake at a house on Thackerville Avenue along with two other women. Chung had moved into the house after she and Blake began what she believed was a romantic relationship, Daskas said.

"The defendant began persuading her into doing things she wouldn't normally do," he said.

Daskas said Blake paid for Chung to get breast implants and he encouraged her and the other women to begin dancing topless. Blake also required Chung to have sex for money, he said.

"There is evidence out there that certainly suggests (Blake) was a pimp to at least those three women," he said.

Daskas said Blake forbade the women to leave the house without him.

"The defendant would often beat all three of them," Daskas said. "He wouldn't let them come home from work unless they made a certain amount of money."

Prosecutors say Sophear Choy and Van Dine were also going to move into the house on Thackerville but changed their minds.

That decision "aggravated the defendant," and that aggravation culminated in the shooting in the desert, Daskas said.

Police allege Blake shot the woman execution-style in a desert area in southwest Las Vegas after an argument while the four were moving furniture and personal belongings.

Christiansen denied prosecutors' claims. He added that he had interviewed both Chung and Kim Choy and that both women denied that Blake was their pimp.

"Both of the girls say specifically that there was no prostitution going on," he said. Kim Choy has recovered from her injuries and is staying in an undisclosed location out of state until the trial. Authorities are doing all they can to maintain her safety until the trial, prosecutors said.

"We have some concern for the surviving witness in this case," Daskas said. "She's a 24-year-old girl who was shot in the head and held her sister's hand as she died."