Judge Dismisses Slaying Case Over D.A.’s Objections

A manslaughter charge was dismissed Friday against a 25-year-old Van Nuys woman who admitted killing her 50-year-old ex-boyfriend in June, 1984, but said she acted in self-defense.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Melvin B. Grover announced that he would not grant the prosecution a retrial of Melody Kay Runyan, who had said she shot Lee Owens because she was terrified that he might kill her. A jury heard the case last month but was unable to reach a verdict, deadlocking 10 to 2 in favor of acquittal.

Over the objections of Deputy Dist. Atty. Linda Greenberg, Grover granted a defense motion Friday asking for dismissal of the charge against Runyan.

“The defendant has been through enough,” Grover said, adding that he believes the jury should have reached a unanimous decision for acquittal.

Runyan was “certainly acting under fear of great bodily injury” when she shot Owens after he confronted her in the parking lot of a Van Nuys shopping center, Grover said.

The Runyan case was one of several cited Friday by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office when it petitioned the judge to remove himself from four other pending criminal cases. The district attorney’s office, alleging bias by Grover against prosecutors, said it would file similar petitions in all criminal cases sent to his court.

In the Runyan case, Grover and Greenberg argued in open court several times during the trial.

Mike Carroll, head deputy of the Van Nuys branch of the district attorney’s office, said he had not decided whether to appeal Grover’s dismissal of the charge against Runyan.

After leaving the courtroom, Runyan sobbed on the shoulders of her uncle.

“I feel fantastic,” she said. “I’ve been praying for this.”

Worried About Retrial

Runyan said she has lost 26 pounds since the trial ended because she has been worrying about a possible retrial.

The prosecutor introduced evidence that Owens was unarmed at the time of the shooting and that Runyan acknowledged that she could outrun the victim, who had an artificial leg.

But Mark Kaiserman, deputy public defender representing Runyan, said state law does not require a person to flee in situations where self-defense is warranted.

Runyan testified during the trial that Owens had threatened to kill her several times and that he once pulled out clumps of her hair.

On the morning of the shooting, Owens was ordered by a judge to stay away from Runyan after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from a fight between the two 12 days earlier, testimony showed.

Greenberg argued Friday that a retrial should be granted because the judge had excluded the testimony of 18 prosecution witnesses and ruled that much of her evidence was inadmissible.

‘Right to Prosecute Truth’

“We have the right to prosecute the truth and the whole truth to the jury,” Greenberg said.

Grover responded that the prosecution had “ample opportunity to present its case,” and he accused Greenberg of misconduct during the trial. Grover asserted that Greenberg, in her closing argument to the jury, had referred to the crime as a murder, rather than a manslaughter, and that jurors were confused by her characterization.

Greenberg said in an interview that she never used the word murder. She said she had referred to the death penalty, but was not talking about Runyan’s possible sentence. She said she was responding to references by defense attorney Kaiserman that Owens had been drinking on the night of the shooting and had admitted to battery.

“I argued that the victim did not deserve the death penalty for misdemeanor battery and drinking,” Greenberg said.

A transcript of the closing argument was not available Friday.