An Alameda man who says Sebastopol City Councilwoman Linda Kelley keyed his truck identified her in court Wednesday as the person he saw walk the length of his pickup while he heard a "horrific screaming" noise of metal on metal.


Michael Zinsley, a geologist and author, was the first prosecution witness called to testify in the misdemeanor vandalism case. Kelley's neighbor and fellow council member, Sam Pierce, took the stand later Wednesday afternoon.

Kelley, 54, faces up to a year in jail, a $10,000 fine and restitution payments if she's convicted. The two-term councilwoman has pleaded not guilty.

"What this case is about is somebody getting caught red-handed vandalizing another person's vehicle. That's the simple view of this case," prosecutor Jenica Leonard said in her opening statement to the all-female jury.

"She, purposely and maliciously, keyed the man's car," Leonard said. "Why? . . . That's her spot."

Kelley's attorney, Lisa Gygax, reserved her opening statement until she begins the defense case.

Zinsley testified that he was visiting Pierce, Kelley's next-door neighbor, on Aug. 5 and had bedded down for the night on a mattress in the camper shell of his 1987 Toyota pickup.

About 3 a.m., he said, he was awakened by headlights and the noise of a truck pulling in behind his truck, which was parked in front of Kelley's house on Eleanor Avenue in Sebastopol. Kelley, a nurse, has said she works late hours.

Zinsley said the driver didn't hesitate.

"She just came right up along the side of my truck," he said. "I could see her going by through the window of the shell."

He said it took him a moment to realize what was happening when he heard a scratching sound that resonated through the back of the truck. It sounded like fingernails on a blackboard combined with a metal grinder, he said.

Zinsley said he jumped out of the camper shell and followed the person, yelling, "Hey, what are you doing scratching my truck?"

Kelley, he said, responded nonsensically: "I thought a dog was going to bark at me."

He said he watched as Kelley turned from the sidewalk toward the house next to Pierce's.

Pierce testified that the following morning he told Zinsley it was a sensitive situation that he wanted to try to resolve by speaking with Kelley directly.

After Pierce got no response to knocking on her door -- and after he unsuccessfully tried to reach the police chief and a lieutenant -- Zinsley notified police himself.

"I wanted to give her the opportunity to basically fess up," Zinsley said. "I basically caught her red-handed doing it."

In Gygax's cross-examination, Zinsley acknowledged that he assumed the person he saw scratch his truck was Pierce's neighbor, even though he didn't see her actually go inside Kelley's house.

Gygax suggested the camper shell's windows were tinted and Zinsley only saw the vandal for a second or two in profile.

He said he and Pierce shared a 12-pack of beer that afternoon, although Pierce remembered it more as "a couple beers."

Based on Zinsley's description, Pierce said he also concluded the vandal was Kelley. He said once he saw Kelley's truck parked behind Zinsley's, "That clarified it for me."

Before testimony began Wednesday, Judge Dana Si-monds denied a defense effort to exclude a statement Kelley made to police following the incident. Gygax argued that Kelley hadn't been informed of her Miranda rights, but Simonds ruled that wasn't required because Kelley wasn't a suspect or in custody.

An officer said Kelley told him she was at work at the time of the incident before referring further questions to her attorney.

Testimony continues this afternoon.

You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 568-5312 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com.