Cheers After Guilty Verdict Tainted Dally Jury, Defense Claims

Michael Dally’s attorneys have asked a judge to dismiss the jury charged with determining his sentence, arguing that an “outlandish and unprecedented display of public elation” in response to his conviction has biased jurors.

A large crowd of spectators erupted in loud cheers outside the courtroom last week just as Dally was found guilty of first-degree murder and related charges stemming from the 1996 kidnap-murder of his wife, Sherri.

In one of six motions filed Monday, Dally’s lawyers argued that the outburst, which could clearly be heard inside the courtroom, has tainted jurors by broadcasting public approval of the verdicts.

The lawyers also accused one male juror of staring at the defendant with a “gleeful smile” as the verdicts were read. And they said the entire panel has been exposed to heavy publicity that may have prejudiced the jury.

As a result, the lawyers want 12 new jurors--selected from outside Ventura or Santa Barbara counties--to decide whether Dally should be executed or sentenced to life in prison for his role in his wife’s murder.

“The present jury will be unable to render an unbiased penalty recommendation,” attorney James M. Farley wrote in the motion, calling the scene outside the courtroom last week a “jubilant circus.”

A jury was selected from Santa Barbara County after the court ruled that heavy pretrial publicity in Ventura County made it virtually impossible to find a group of local residents who had not formed opinions about the case.

Although California law states that the same jury is supposed to hear evidence in both the guilt and penalty phases of a capital murder trial, Farley said the judge can discharge the jury if good cause is shown to exist.

“It is hard to imagine,” he wrote, “a more appropriate case for discharge of a penalty jury than that which exists here.”

*

A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Wednesday morning in Ventura County Superior Court. Judge Charles W. Campbell is expected to take up a series of issues relating to the penalty phase of the trial at that time.

In addition to the motion to replace the jury, Dally’s attorneys filed a second brief outlining the evidence they want to present when the penalty proceedings get underway.

They also responded to three motions filed by the prosecution last week after Dally’s conviction.

The 37-year-old former grocery store worker was found guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy for planning to kill his wife, Sherri, with his longtime lover, Diana Haun.

Haun was convicted of the same charges six months ago and sentenced to life in prison.

When the penalty phase of Dally’s trial starts, defense attorneys want the jury to know that Haun did not receive a death sentence--even though she was the one who carried out the grisly slaying.

*

Michael Dally was only convicted of aiding and abetting to murder. Prosecutors say he planned the killing with Haun but did not wield the murder weapon--a point the defense wants to stress during his penalty trial.

“It was Diana Haun who was found beyond a reasonable doubt to have personally, intentionally killed Sherri Dally in a horrifying and merciless manner,” Farley wrote in his motion.

Although the jury found Dally guilty as an accomplice, Farley said jurors could not have based their decision on evidence that Dally was personally involved in the kidnapping and murder.

“Thus, the fact that the actual killer received a sentence of less than death is relevant to the circumstances of the offense,” he said.