Blaze Bernstein Murder Trial: Defendant Sam Woodward Cross-Examined

LAKE FOREST, CA —Six and a half years have passed since Samuel Woodward was arrested for the brutal killing of Blaze Bernstein, a UPenn college student and former classmate. Now on trial for Bernstein's murder, with added hate-crime charges, Woodward has changed dramatically in both appearance and demeanor in the courtroom.

Woodward finished his testimony before the cross-examination began Monday, explaining his version of what happened that fateful night in January of 2018. His courtroom testimony began with the story of waking from a marijuana-induced stupor to find he had been graphically photographed by Bernstein as payback for previous anti-gay taunts in high school. It ended with Woodward's public defender walking him through if he felt remorse for his actions.

"Yes, I do." Woodward said while on the stand, after a prolonged pause.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker then had her chance to interview Woodward. She questioned him about specific taunts against cellmates over the past six years, which he denied. She then questioned him about his use of "homophobic slurs" in junior high school, which he said happened "only sometimes" with a "group of friends." According to City News Service reports, he also downplayed antisocial behavior while at Orange County School of the Arts. Still, it was questions about his relationship with Atomwaffen, a neo-Nazi Group, and Tristan "Kruuz" Evans, that were Walker's primary focus.

Woodward called his interaction with the group a "joke," testifying that he couldn't remember his parents saying they were worried about him getting into trouble by associating with the neo-Nazi groups. He admitted to wanting to "gain acceptance" with the group.

Woodward is accused of killing Bernstein because of his sexuality, not because he was Jewish, and he has denied that his attack was motivated in any way by his association with a neo-Nazi group, which has come into evidence to support the prosecution's legal theory as a hate crime.

Though he exhibited at least one outburst during February's jury selection, which resulted in prospective jurors being dismissed and the process restarted in an OC Register article, Woodward was declared competent to stand trial.

Estimates of the trial's length are "several months."

Last week, Woodward took the stand to testify on his state of mind at the time of the killing. He told jurors he awoke from sleeping off marijuana high to find Bernstein had snapped a picture of his genitals and shared it on social media, which led Woodward to stab Bernstein 20 times.

Since his arrest in 2018, Woodward has dramatically changed his look from a closely shorn head to a long and disheveled one, with a beard rather than a clean-shaven one. He rarely makes eye contact in the courtroom and has often been reminded by his Public Defender, Ken Morrison, to "get the hair out of his face" or to "look up."

Under questioning from Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker, Woodward acknowledged he had been dishonest with Bernstein in some of their conversations online. Walker also questioned Woodward about text messages he sent to Bernstein after he was dead asking where he was as a way to cover up the crime.

On Monday, Woodward grew testy as Walker had him recount the killing. Woodward complained that he had already gone through it in testimony last week.

Woodward recounted how, after taking puffs of a potent marijuana cigarette, he snapped out of a haze when he felt a sensation on his leg that he initially thought signaled he had urinated on himself as he had done previously. But he soon realized Bernstein had unbuckled his pants and placed his hand on his genitals, Woodward testified.

"I lost control of my voice," Woodward said. "I asked him what was going on... I lost control of everything... I started losing my mind."
Walker asked him if he tried to "punch" Bernstein. Woodward said no.

Woodward said he was distressed that Bernstein was holding up his phone and appeared to be taking pictures or video of the encounter.
"And the phone is right there and you didn't just grab it," Walker asked.

"I said in my testimony (last week)," Woodward said. "(Morrison) asked me what happened. That's exactly what I did when I reached for the phone... That's what I already said."

Bernstein, Woodward claimed, "started saying over and over again, 'I got you already.' Something about closeted gay."

Woodward insisted he killed Bernstein with a knife he had used to open up a package of pot that he left nearby while the two were at a park near Bernstein's home after midnight. It was a knife he said he bought a swap meet, not a knife with his father's name on it that was found in his drawer in his room.

Woodward said he "got rid of it," referring to the weapon, but he couldn't recall the details of throwing it away.

When Walker pushed for details about the stabs, Woodward said "everything was a blur" and could not remember the order of the attacks on his hands and neck.

"What was Blaze saying when were stabbing him multiple times?" Walker asked.

"I can't remember him saying anything," Woodward said.
"He was not screaming for his life?" Walker asked.

"No, I can't remember what he was saying," Woodward said.

Walker also grilled Woodward on his attempts to "cover up" the crime that included text messages to Bernstein's phone making it out like he was looking for the victim.

Rogers, who began testifying near the end of Monday's court session, will return to the witness stand Tuesday.