Import Jury for Dally-Haun Trial, Judge Rules

Rather than relocate the trial, a jury from Santa Barbara County should be imported to Ventura County to hear the case against accused murderers Michael Dally and Diana Haun, a Superior Court judge said Friday.

Described by legal experts as a rare application of state law, the ruling by Judge Frederick A. Jones came after weeks of discussions between defense attorneys and prosecutors, who agreed that importing a jury was a fair and practical solution to the most bitterly contested issue raised so far in the case.

“I think it’s a fair compromise,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Lela Henke-Dobroth said Friday. “You don’t have to concern yourself with potential publicity problems tainting jurors here in Ventura.”

Attorney James M. Farley, who is representing Dally, said the decision addresses the concerns raised by both sides.

“We want jurors that have not been exposed adversely to publicity, and the district attorney’s office gets what they want--they get to try it in this county,” he said.

Although bringing jurors in from neighboring counties is allowed under the law, legal experts said it is rarely done. And attorneys in Ventura County said they could not recall it ever happening here.

“It’s in the statute, but I have never actually seen it being done before,” said Laurie Levenson, associate dean of Loyola Law School. Trial courts, she said, usually try to keep cases in the same counties where the alleged offenses occurred for logistics reasons.

“It is unusual, but not unheard of,” added USC law professor Erwin Chemerinsky. “The key question is how different has the publicity been in the two counties. If there has been a substantial difference . . . then this makes a lot of sense.”

Hundreds of news stories about the case have appeared in Ventura County newspapers, television and radio broadcasts--reports that defense attorneys say have contributed to high recognition rates indicated in surveys conducted by the prosecution and the defense. One study showed that 91% of the poll’s respondents had heard about the Dally-Haun case.

But an editor for the Santa Barbara News-Press indicated in court documents that few articles on the slaying have appeared in that county, which prompted defense attorneys to specifically request a move to the neighboring county.

Attorneys in Ventura County could not recall a criminal case in which a jury was brought in from another area to decide the guilt or innocence of an accused killer. But for this case, they said, the decision seems appropriate.

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“It’s a very novel and positive ruling for all parties involved,” said Ventura criminal defense attorney Kevin DeNoce, a former prosecutor. “I think [Jones] struck the right balance between the two parties. It helps ensure that Dally and Haun won’t be tried in front a jury pool that has been exposed to publicity.”

Defense attorneys for Dally, 37, and Haun, 36, had urged Jones to move the high-profile trial to another jurisdiction on the grounds that excessive pretrial publicity has tainted the prospective jury pool.

In his final argument concluding a four-day hearing earlier this month, Deputy Public Defender Neil B. Quinn suggested moving the case to Santa Barbara County because there had been few news reports about it in that region.

But prosecutors argued that Dally and Haun, who are facing charges of murder, conspiracy and kidnapping for allegedly killing Dally’s wife, Sherri, could indeed receive a fair trial locally.

Furthermore, they argued, moving the trial would create a burden for the estimated 160 witnesses expected to testify.

State law specifies that in granting a change of venue, a judge should consider bringing in a jury from another county rather than transferring a case elsewhere. Experts say logistic difficulties usually make this an undesirable option.

But in this case, the mutual agreement to import a jury was reached between the defense and prosecution, making any ruling on a proposed change of venue moot, Jones said during a court hearing Friday.

Under that agreement, jury selection would occur in Santa Barbara County, although logistics such as courtroom availability, security and transportation for the jurors to Ventura County once the case begins have not been resolved.

“We can certainly live with this,” said Quinn, who is representing Haun. “There’s been too much exposure to the citizens of Ventura County on this case and very little exposure to the citizens of Santa Barbara County.”

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Because of the lack of news reports in the neighboring county, attorneys said they expect jury selection will go much faster than if a jury was picked here.

“It will speed jury selection tremendously,” Quinn said, speculating that finding between 12 and 15 jurors from southern Santa Barbara County could take as little as a month.

Perhaps as few as 5% of the potential jurors from Santa Barbara County could be disqualified from serving because of their knowledge of the case, compared to as many as four out of five in Ventura County, he explained.

The agreement allows the jury pool to include residents of northern Santa Barbara County who live closest to the Ventura courthouse. Exactly what that means is unclear, Quinn said.

Presumably the phraseology would exclude Santa Maria Valley residents, but not people who live in the Santa Ynez Valley, he said. However, Quinn said he would still oppose a Solvang resident serving on the jury because of the extensive traveling distance involved.

What, if any, effect the traveling distance from Santa Barbara County to Ventura County will have on the case remains a question.

Asking jurors to commute to a different jurisdiction is an inconvenience most courts try to avoid, legal experts said. In the rare instances where a change of venue is granted--there were only three such cases in the state last year--courts usually decide to put the burden on the parties involved and not the jurors.

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With the Dally-Haun trial expected to last several months, the daily trek to Ventura County could have a negative effect on the case, experts said.

“You are going to get either very dedicated jurors or very grumpy jurors,” Levenson said.

But Quinn said a Santa Barbara resident can commute to the Ventura courthouse faster than a Ventura County juror who lives 40 minutes away in Simi Valley. And both Levenson and Chemerinsky said Los Angeles County jurors often commute greater distances than jurors in the Dally-Haun case will be asked to drive.

“This is a difficulty that is not new,” Levenson said.

The next major hurdle facing the court before the trial begins next month is whether Haun and Dally should be tried separately, as their respective defense teams want, or together, as the district attorney’s office has requested. A hearing on the matter is set for June 16.

Wilson is a Times staff writer, and Green is a correspondent.