A man prosecuted for murder in a woman’s stabbing death outside the Hollywood & Highland Center pleaded no contest Tuesday to a lesser count of voluntary manslaughter.
Dustin James Kinnear, 27, entered his no contest plea after jurors indicated they were deadlocked after about a day of deliberations in his trial for the June 18, 2013, stabbing death of Christine Calderon, 23, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
He is facing 12 years in state prison, with sentencing set for Oct. 10, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Last week, a man who was with Calderon testified that Kinnear confronted her and demanded a dollar after the two took photos of two other transients at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, including a homeless man holding a sign that featured a profanity.
Robert Harden said he “shoved him as hard as I could” after seeing Calderon move back very quickly from Kinnear as though she had been pushed or hit, and that he was “scared” as he tried to retreat as the other two men — who he said had initially demanded money — came toward him.
He said he briefly lost sight of Calderon, then saw her rolling in the street with Kinnear on top of her and came to her aid by pushing Kinnear off of his friend, with whom he worked.
He told jurors he did not see anyone else physically confront his friend, with whom he had spent the afternoon.
Harden testified that he and Calderon were “panicking” after the confrontation when she ran her hands down her clothes and realized that there was blood. He said the two made their way to an elevator, where he saw “the size of her wound” and realized “it was really bad.”
He said he was first able to identify Kinnear in court last October at a hearing at which Kinnear was eventually ordered to stand trial, but acknowledged he had not previously identified Kinnear when police showed him photographs.
Co-defendant Jason Joel Wolstone was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading no contest to an assault charge involving Calderon. He testified during Kinnear’s trial and told jurors that Kinnear went “nose to nose” with Calderon.
Wolstone, 34, acknowledged his own run-in with Calderon, saying he had her in “kind of a headlock” for a few seconds after being tackled from behind. But he said he released her after the other transient, Brian Widdows, told him that it was “a girl” and to let her go.
Widdows, 35, was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading no contest to being an accessory after the fact. Widdows testified that he grabbed a knife off the ground that he said had fallen from the woman’s pocket.
Wolstone and Widdows both denied being involved in the stabbing.
— City News Service