On witness stand, Scherer describes family life before slayings

OAKLAND -- Appearing unfazed despite accusations that he brutallykilled his parents, Ernest Scherer III took the witness standWednesday, grinning often as he described a religious upbringing,family tension from his father's drinking and his formative days asa poker player.

His public defender, Richard Foxall, wasted little time bringinghis client to the stand, on just the third day of defense testimony.Scherer III's testimony, expected to resume Thursday, follows sixweeks of a prosecution case in which several of his relatives andacquaintances testified against him.

Authorities accuse him of beating and slashing Ernest SchererJr., 60, and Charlene Abendroth, 57, in their Castlewood CountryClub home in March 2008.

Scherer III took on a casual air as a court bailiff sat sevenfeet away alongside the jury of seven women and five men. Led byFoxall, he talked of his seminary training for the Mormon church,his achievement as an Eagle Scout, frequent card games with hisfamily and marrying his now ex-wife, Robyn, while both attendedBrigham Young University.

He also talked about the high school years in which his father, aformer San Ramon Valley school board member who was recalled in1990, often left to play cards and drink at the Outpost, a defunctSan Ramon card club.

"He just wasn't home a lot," he said. "I had this impression ofhim being like Norm from 'Cheers.' "

Scherer III grew intrigued and visited the Outpost with a friendone day when he was 20, launching an interest in poker that laterturned professional, he testified. That summer, he began working asa "prop" player at the California Grand card club in Pacheco,keeping games alive for $161 a night, he said.

His testimony ended late Wednesday before it could turn to theallegations that Scherer III, 32, grew mired in debt and drove fromLas Vegas to his parents' house in Pleasanton. Authorities claim hebeat them with a youth baseball bat and slashed them with one of hisfather's Turkish swords to claim an inheritance pegged at about $1million.

He pleaded not guilty following his arrest two years ago in LasVegas. The Alameda County District Attorney's Office declined toseek the death penalty.

Scherer III, a 1996 graduate of California High in San Ramon,described a strained relationship with his younger sister,Catherine, who has testified for the prosecution.

"I don't ever remember a time when we did get along," he said."She got into the habit of, I guess, tattletale. It was like hermission in life to get me in trouble."

Earlier, with the jury away, both sides fought over whetherprosecutor Michael Nieto could introduce, in cross-examination, araft of records that show Scherer III perused numerous Internet pornsites.

"The prosecution has turned this into a referendum on peoplehaving an affair," Foxall said, referring to accusations of SchererIII's philandering.

Nieto, meanwhile, described the records as "an orchard of ripefruit here for cross-examination."

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Horner agreed in partwith the defense, ruling that Nieto could only question Scherer IIIon Internet use related to his behavior after the killings.

Also Wednesday, Foxall pressed the slain couple's neighbor, JohnBriggs, on a statement he made to investigators that he saw a femalethrough the window of the house at least a day after authoritiessaid the couple were killed.

On cross-examination, Briggs said he could not be sure.

Emily Wagner, a former president of the Castlewood homeownersassociation, testified to seeing a red Camaro frequently around thecountry club for at least a year before the killings, then notafterward.

Foxall has aimed to poke holes in prosecution claims that thesports car seen in blurry security videos from the country clubaround the time of the slayings was Scherer III's 2001 red Camaroconvertible.

Contact John Simerman at 925-943-8072.