Juror’s Lie Not Basis for Mistrial in Murder Case

SANTA ANA — A Superior Court judge ruled Friday that a man was guilty of misconduct during jury deliberations in a death penalty case for lying to fellow jurors about once being in jail, but she refused to declare a mistrial in the case.

Judge Kathleen E. O’Leary said the jurors’ actions did not appear to have influenced the jury panel, which recommended the death penalty for 25-year-old Eric Wayne Bennett, a Costa Mesa handyman convicted in August of raping and murdering a Laguna Hills woman.

The juror, whose name has not been made public, underwent two hours of intense questioning by the judge in a closed hearing and at times appeared to be quite nervous, according to courtroom observers.

The man made comments during deliberations about being involved in a bar fight and being put in jail, according to sworn statements from the man himself and other jurors. He had twice mentioned the alleged incident and said how terrible the experience was for him.

But the man, identified only as “Juror No. 20,” did not disclose the alleged incident when filling out a questionnaire during jury selection. Defense attorneys maintained that this inconsistency and the affect it may have had on fellow panelists constituted juror misconduct.

Investigators for both the prosecution and the defense had been unable to find any record of the man’s arrest in Orange County. After questioning him under oath on Friday, O’Leary determined that he had made up the entire episode for unknown reasons.

The judge pointed out that in previous sworn statements, the man said he had been held at Orange County Jail, but on Friday testified that he had been detained at some type of security facility in the Garden Grove area which he was unable to describe. He was also unclear on many other details.

“I don’t believe Juror No. 20 is credible,” the judge said. “There were inconsistencies in his testimony that alarmed me.”

But since O’Leary believes that the arrest episode did not occur, she ruled that the man had answered truthfully on his jury questionnaire when he stated that he had never been arrested.

Deputy Public Defender Leonard Gumlia was surprised at the judge’s findings, particularly her belief that the juror had completely lied.

“Something happened where he believed he was in jail,” Gumlia said outside court. “She’s basically saying everything was false and that the juror spent 99% of the time on the stand basically perjuring himself.”

But prosecutors said that the judge made the right decision and contended that the juror felt pressured by a defense investigator and may have signed a sworn statement without fully reading it.

“He thought he would not have to appear in court if he signed the paper which said he’d been arrested and put in jail,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Carolyn Kirkwood. “There is no record of this juror ever being arrested.”

In September, the jury recommended that Bennett be executed for the murder of 50-year-old Marie Evans Powell, who was bludgeoned, raped and robbed. A month earlier, the same jury had convicted Bennett of killing Powell and of raping one of his neighbors at knifepoint.

The jury’s verdict included findings that the murder took place during a rape and during a burglary, special circumstances that make Bennett eligible for the death penalty.

O’Leary delayed the sentencing of Bennett, scheduled for Friday, until next week.