Second Trial Set in Slaying of Professor

A March 18 date was set Friday for the second trial of a 21-year-old Vietnamese student charged with murder in the death of Cal State Fullerton professor Edward Lee Cooperman, but prosecutors acknowledged that they will probably be barred from seeking a first-degree murder conviction next time.

Lawyers for both sides say they expect the case to go to a second trial without a plea bargain.

A mistrial was declared Tuesday in the first trial for Minh Van Lam, one of Cooperman’s former students, when an Orange County Superior Court jury became hopelessly deadlocked.

Lam claimed that he shot the professor accidentally at his California State University, Fullerton, office on Oct. 13, 1984, with a .25-caliber handgun, when Cooperman grabbed his arm to show him how to aim the weapon.

The trial gained international attention because Cooperman was known for his involvement in programs providing aid to postwar Vietnam.

At Lam’s first trial, jurors reported that they voted 12 to 0 for acquittal on the charge of first-degree murder, then voted 7 to 5 in favor of a second-degree murder conviction and 9 to 3 in favor of involuntary manslaughter. Three jurors steadfastly maintained that Lam was innocent of all criminal charges.

Although defense attorney Alan May failed to ask that the vote be formally recorded as an acquittal on first-degree murder, which would have barred retrial on that charge, prosecutors said they expect a judge to prohibit another prosecution on grounds of double jeopardy.

Second-degree murder is punishable by 15 years to life and manslaughter by 2 to 4 years. If convicted of any of the charges, Lam could be sentenced to an additional 2 years for use of a firearm.

Lam’s bail was continued at $200,000. He is being held in the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana.