Judo coach takes stand in Reiser case

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Dec 18, 2007 | by Paul T Rosynsky

OAKLAND -- Hans Reiser wasn't the stereotypical computer geek one might picture when told of his historic development of computer program language and his entrance into the University of California, Berkeley, at the age of 15.

Reiser was also a top judo student at a world-renowned school in San Bruno who earned one of the highest honors, a black belt, the founder and owner of the judo school said in court Monday.

William Cahill, owner and founder of the Cahill Academy in San Bruno, said Reiser joined the school about a decade ago and quickly moved through the ranks to become a top student.

While Reiser did not train as frequently as Cahill's top judo competitors, he learned enough in class and demonstrated expertise of all judo techniques to earn the first level of black belt available to students.

"You have to attend a lot of classes," Cahill said when asked about Reiser's black belt. "He had to know all the techniques."

Among those techniques is grappling work, a category of fighting which includes several different choke holds, Cahill said. Techniques Reiser excelled at, the 72-year-old judo master said.

Cahill's testimony helped bolster the prosecution's theory Reiser choked his estranged wife, Nina Reiser, to death Labor Day weekend in 2006. Reiser is accused of killing his wife in the midst of a contentious divorce and custody battle. Her body has never been found.

Also on Monday, a fellow inmate at Santa Rita county jail in Dublin testified about Hans Reiser's unusual behavior inside the jail.

Of specific interest was a morning in February that inmate Arthur Gomez recounted. Gomez said several inmates were watching KTVU morning news with a lead story about a body the Oakland Police found in the Oakland hills.

But Koltai said the surgery was essential and when it was completed, Rory Reiser's problems had vanished.