2 Convicted of Murder; Jury Deadlocks on 3rd : Vote Is 11-1 for Guilty Verdict on Woman in Slaying at Robbery

Two Westminster men were convicted of first-degree murder Monday in the stabbing death of a Huntington Beach man, but the jury deadlocked in the case of a co-defendant who the prosecutor claimed had set up a robbery at which the man was killed.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert Fitzgerald declared a mistrial in the murder case against Lisa Mondragon, 21, of Santa Ana after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked, 11 to 1, for a guilty verdict. The judge scheduled a new trial for Dec. 9.

Her two co-defendants, Clement E. Brown, 23, and Tutuila F. Tuvalu, 23, were convicted of first-degree murder, robbery and burglary. The judge set sentencing for them for Nov. 22.

The prosecution claimed that at about 8 p.m. on Feb. 6 Mondragon led Brown, her boyfriend, and Tuvalu to a Huntington Beach apartment where a former boyfriend had once lived with the current tenant, Steve Fritchell.

Pulled Shotgun

Fritchell, who had four guests for a movie party that night, recognized Mondragon and let them in. According to eyewitness testimony, Tuvalu immediately pulled out a shotgun and he and Brown ordered Fritchell and his guests to lie on the floor.

But Mondragon fell to the floor, too, the eyewitnesses testified, as if she were also a victim of the robbery.

When the two men began searching the house, supposedly for hidden cocaine, one of the robbery victims, William Frank Cody, 30, jumped up to try to stop them. Eyewitnesses said Brown stabbed him with a kitchen knife.

A fight began involving several of the robbery victims and the two men, according to testimony.

But Mondragon, instead of helping the other victims, joined Brown and Tuvalu, the guests and Fritchell testified. One of the guests, Mark Kalajian, testified that she hit him on the head with a pan.

Cody was stabbed in the chest and head and died at the scene.

Mondragon left the apartment with Brown and Tuvalu, the occupants testified.

Mondragon testified that she took the two to the apartment to buy some cocaine but was unaware that they were going to rob anyone. She said the two talked in the car in Samoan and she did not understand what they were talking about.

She also testified that she was as shocked as the others when the two men told everyone to get down on the floor. She said she got up in an attempt to break up the fight.

But with one possible exception, none of the jurors believed her story.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Rick Toohey brought in police testimony to show that Mondragon, under police surveillance the next day, spent much of the day with Brown.

Judge Fitzgerald remarked to jurors after the verdict that the court knew that their arguments during four days of testimony got heated “because we could hear the noise coming out of the jury room.”

One juror, in fact, came up with a novel argument. He said he inquired during deliberations whether it was possible for the court to remove a juror and replace him with one of the alternates. Thomas Pharris of Santa Ana said he wanted the holdout juror replaced. After learning it was not possible, Pharris said, “That’s too bad. That guy (the holdout juror) wasted a lot of our time.”

The holdout juror was unavailable for comment.