Conviction in 2 Costa Mesa Deaths Rejected

A state appellate court today overturned the murder conviction of a man who killed two Costa Mesa teen-agers in an auto accident as he fled from police, ruling that the prosecutor discriminated against Asians in jury selection.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana ruled that the exclusion of a Vietnamese immigrant because of what the prosecutor felt was his inability to understand English was illegally based on a racial stereotype.

The court voided the two second-degree convictions of Ruben Valle. Valle, driving a stolen van and chased by Costa Mesa police, ran a stop sign and collided with a car carrying two Estancia High School students, Roy Williamson and Billy Deering. Both were killed, while Valle walked away with minor injuries.

Dept. Dist. Atty. Richard King said his office would consider an appeal.

“If an appeal fails, obviously we will try the case again.”

Valle is serving two prison sentences of 15 years to life in prison for the 1986 conviction.

King’s questioning of prospective jurors was the subject of scathing criticism in the appeals court opinion, written by Justice Edward J. Wallin. King showed bias, the court concluded, by disqualifying Tuoc Vo, a mechanic and Vietnamese immigrant.

King stated that in his experience, “members of the Oriental race” have difficulty learning English and “serious problems in understanding words that have abstract meanings to them.”

Such an approach amounted to discriminating illegally against a group, Wallin wrote.