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aaa After at unprecedented series of legal turns and tangles, testi- mony in the Sharon Tate-Leno La Bianca murder frial is ex- pected to get under way this week in an eighth floor court- room at the downtown Hall of Justice. Details of the deaths will be presented by the prosecution just a few weeks short of a year after the beautiful actress and six others were slain. Latest surprise maneuver in the case came Friday when ‘pushy-bearded Ronald Hughes, a lawyer who has never tried a case in court, replaced Ira Re- iner as the attorney for defend- ant Leslie Van Houten. Reiner said he was forced to bow out of the. case because of ‘“rreconcilable differences” with his client over how to con- duct her defense. Specifically, Reiner was un- willing to follow her instructions to remain silent through jury selection and the subsequent trial proceedings. She. had twice before tried to dismiss Reiner because, as she put it: “He. is speaking with his voice, not mine.” Superior. Court Judge. Charles H, Older denied her requests. on those occasions. The departure of Reiner from the case in favor of Hughes is evidence of the control Manson has over his followers. Tt was Manson who decided that. the defense attorney s| should remain silent and co-de- fendants Patricia Krenwinkel, 22; Susan Atkins, 21; and the 19-year-old Miss Van Houten fol- _ a ——— ——__— :- ‘“Trving” Kanarek, representing <==» = eal ak plus Paul Fitzgerald dismissing her first attorney, | and Daye Shinn, attorneys for ; ‘ Caballero. and replac- kins, respectively, have heeded) ing him wi , 1e- the “silence” request with few diately announced that she was exceptions. ' repudiating her grand jury testi- : take th Just how silent they will ret mony and would not e e inain when testimony gets un-j: Stand when the case camé to der way remains a question|! trial. mark. Miss Atkins’ turnabout came At any rate, Reiner was un-' after a dramatic confrontation willing to follow the dictates of/ | with Manson at County Jail, | Manson and Miss Van Houten. | sore she discussed the case This resulted in Friday’s substi- from the University of Califor- nia at Los Angeles law school 13 months ago, briefly represented Manson during earlier pre-trial proceedings. | Mansons’ magnetic effect on co-defendants has caused prob- lems for the prosecution almost from the beginning of the case as evidenced by the example of Miss Atkins. Tt was her two hours and 12 minutes of testimony before the County Grand Jury that result- ed in the Dec. 8 murder-conspir- acy indictment that named her, Manson and four others as de- fendants. aR However, by mid-February i became obvious to prosecutors Aaron H. Stovitz and Vincent T. Bugliosi that Miss Atkins was having a change of heart and that they were losing her as their star witness. | with him for almost an hour. | tution of attorneys, a _ rand i | Hughes, who was_eraduated Last week, Shinn placed an taffidavit by Miss Atkins into the | record. In the document, she | | formally claims the story she ‘told the grand jury was untrue. | The attorney failed in his at- ‘tempt to halt the trial on the grounds that the murder-con- | | spiracy indictment’s foundation ' is based on what he asserts is ‘ Miss Atkins’ “tainted”? testimo- ‘hy, | Without Miss Atkins’ testimo- ny, the prosecutors conceded ‘ they had. serious problems. | In early March, they came up ‘with a substitute star witness ' Linda Kasabian, a 20-year-old ' mother of two who also is under indictment for the slayings. Unlike Miss Atkins, Mrs. Kas- rabian has been promised im- ‘munity in return for her testi- mony, and probably will never be brought to. trial. The ¢ase was complicated considerably at one point in the proceedings when Manson wa allowed to represent hiraself as SAprney =, After more than (wemeanthd of Manson acting as his: own lawyer, Superior Court Judge William B. Keene ruled that. the cult leader “is hopélesSly incap- able of coherently preparing hi defense.”” ‘ Judge Keene, who subsguent jly bowed out of the case in fa jvor of Judge Older, appointed! iprominen, Pasadena criminal attorney Charles Hollopeter to handle his case, I Within wéeks, Manson fired Hollopeter and hired Hughes. Hughes was later to bow ou in favor of Kanarek, who has successfully defeated a prosécu- tion plea ‘to the. State Supreme, Court, asking thethe he_ré- ved. from the case “for in- competency and obstructionist In contrast to these charges made by pvoseeutor Bugliesi, Kanarek’s*courtroom conduct tof date has been almost a.model of decorum. | The. only exception came two weeks ago when he was cited by Judge Oldér for contempt of court for being seven minutes laté one day. During screening of jurors, the deféndants also have re- mained well-behaved. Earlier, Judge Older had ejected them from the court- room on several océasions for standing with their backs to him lin “‘erucifixion” poses—arms outstretched and heads bowed. The prosécution is being han- dled by two members of Dist. \Atty. Evelle Younger’s. staff, Stovitz, 50, came to the prese- ciitor’s: office after getting his law degree from Southwestern |University in 1950. He has pro- secuted 14 murder cases arid won convictions. in all but one. The 35-year-old Bugliosi, a UCLA gradiiate and onetime public courts tennis champion here, recently won the first mass felony convictios-<ant-