Killer Says Lawyer Had Sex With Wife, Asks New Trial

SAN JOSE — A convicted murderer wants a new trial on grounds that he was allegedly cuckolded by his former lawyer. The lawyer has testified that it did not happen because he is impotent.

The request of San Quentin inmate Robert Singer, 51, for a new murder trial has spawned a lurid legal battle complete with torrid love letters. The hearing continues next week.

Singer--who was convicted in 1981 of arranging the murder of Mrs. Singer’s ex-husband--contends that attorney William Melcher of Sherman Oaks breached attorney-client confidentiality by having sexual relations with his wife, wrecking Singer’s chance for a proper defense.

On the witness stand last week, Melcher testified, “since 1978, when I had a vasectomy, I have been totally impotent.”

Superior Court Judge Robert Foley has ruled that the attorneys now representing Singer must prove both that the affair took place and that it damaged Singer’s defense. Their case is built around the testimony of Singer’s ex-wife and some love letters she allegedly wrote to Melcher during her husband’s murder trial.

Judi Singer, 38, wept as she told a hushed courtroom she became “completely emotionally dependent” on Melcher during the trial. In one letter, she said she offered herself as a way to pay off $25,000 in attorney’s fees. She also contradicted Melcher’s claim of impotence, saying he had no trouble having sexual intercourse.

Melcher, who is married, charged that he is being framed by Singer, calling him “a very desperate person (trying) to extricate himself from prison.”

Melcher defended Singer in two highly publicized trials on charges that he arranged the 1980 shooting death of San Jose businessman Howard Witkin, Judi Singer’s former husband. Prosecutors argued that Singer had Witkin killed so that his new bride and her children could collect Witkin’s $750,000 estate.