9-Woman, 3-Man Jury Chosen to Hear Kraft Murder Trial

Twelve jurors and eight alternates who will decide the fate of suspected mass murderer Randy Kraft were impaneled Tuesday, ending two months of jury selection in what may become Orange County’s longest and most expensive criminal trial.

Superior Court Judge Donald A. McCartin took special precautions after the jury of nine women and three men was sworn in, repeatedly warning them against speaking about the case to friends, relatives and others. Although part of a routine admonishment, the judge’s instructions held added weight in view of the 16 killings of which Kraft is accused.

“Don’t do any detective work on your own, now, later or whenever. Don’t even bring in a legal dictionary and try to see if the attorneys’ description matches that of Webster’s,” McCartin said in the Santa Ana courtroom.

Kraft is charged with 16 brutal murders of young men in California. But prosecutors say they will include another 21 murders that they believe Kraft committed, including six in Oregon and two in Michigan, as possible evidence to seek a death-penalty verdict.

Opening arguments are expected Monday. The case, involving more than 200 potential witnesses and hundreds of pieces of evidence, is expected to last more than a year.

Kraft, a 43-year-old Long Beach computer consultant, is charged with a total of 19 felony counts, including murder, sodomy and mayhem, which prosecutors allege occurred when Kraft mutilated one of his alleged victims.

Kraft faces so many criminal counts that on Tuesday his attorney, C. Thomas McDonald, reiterated an earlier statement that it “will be impossible” for his client to get a fair trial.

“I think we have a problem with any group of people with the sheer number of counts they will have to consider and evaluate,” McDonald said, adding that Kraft’s three defense attorneys face “a Herculean effort.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Bryan Brown rejected the idea that the trial will be unfair, contending that the number of counts against the defendant will not sway jurors.

McCartin has ordered a hearing Friday to discuss Kraft’s second motion for a change of venue, based on the presumption that pretrial publicity has wrongly influenced his client’s chances for a fair trial. A judge rejected Kraft’s first such motion after his arrest.

When jury selection began this summer, more than 12,000 Orange County residents were summoned to be on call to serve. Because the case involves the death penalty, Judge McCartin ordered jurors questioned out of view of other potential jurors on their views about the death penalty.

While most members of the jury are women, the jurors’ ages, backgrounds and jobs are diverse, according to both the prosecution and defense.

“It looks like we got a good cross section on the jury,” Brown said.