More jurors in Newport murder trial to be questioned about possible misconduct

A probe is expected to expand next month into allegations that a juror discussed case details at a nail salon during the trial of a man eventually convicted of murder in the 1981 slaying of a Newport Beach retiree.

Two female alternate jurors already have been interviewed and denied discussing the case in public or with other jurors before deliberations.

On Friday, Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregg Prickett said during a hearing that he will invite the rest of the women who were on the jury Oct. 15 to determine who, if anyone, did so.

Jurors are prohibited from discussing a case with anyone in public until the trial is over. They also are not permitted to discuss the case with other jurors until deliberations begin.

In the case of James Andrew Melton, 65, of Los Angeles the Superior Court jury in May found him guilty of first-degree murder for seducing and strangling 77-year-old Anthony DeSousa in what prosecutors contended was a plot to steal from him.

Melton was expected to be sentenced this month, but Prickett delayed the sentencing to Nov. 17 after a court clerk reported overhearing a juror discussing the case mid-trial in May while getting her nails done at a Fountain Valley salon.

It isn’t clear what the juror was reportedly overheard saying.

Melton could be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

“You will not be sentenced until this issue is solved,” Prickett told Melton on Friday.

Prickett interviewed one of the two female alternate jurors Friday in an effort to determine whether she had spoken about the case during the trial. The juror said she did not discuss the case with anyone and did not visit a nail salon in Fountain Valley in May.

Prickett asked the same questions of the other female alternate Sept. 15. She said she did not recall discussing the case in public.

The issue of possible juror misconduct isn’t the first speed bump in the case, which spans three decades.

In 1982, a jury convicted Melton and sentenced him to death for the killing. He was awaiting execution at San Quentin State Prison when a federal judge threw out his conviction in 2007. U.S. District Judge Robert Takasugi ruled Melton was too heavily medicated on psychiatric drugs during his trial to understand the proceedings or participate in his defense.

After a new trial was ordered, the Orange County district attorney’s office decided not to seek the death penalty.

In the 2014 retrial, a jury deadlocked 10-2 in favor of convicting Melton of murder.

His third trial began May 1.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN