Car-Crash Murder Convictions Upset

A state appellate court in Santa Ana on Thursday overturned the murder convictions of a man who killed two teen-agers in a car crash as he fled from police, ruling that discrimination against Asians and Latinos was evident during jury selection.

The 4th District Court of Appeal ruled 3 to 0 that the exclusion of a Vietnamese immigrant because of what the prosecutor stated was his inability to understand English was illegally based on a racial stereotype.

In a 16-page opinion written by Justice Edward J. Wallin, the court also found that Valle’s rights were violated during a police interrogation after his arrest.

Ruben Valle was the first person ever convicted of murder in Orange County in a case involving traffic deaths. Valle, driving a stolen van and chased by Costa Mesa police on Dec. 19, 1984, ran a stop sign and rammed a car carrying two Estancia High School students, Roy Williamson and Billy Dearing, both 17.

Both boys were killed. Valle was convicted in 1986 of two counts of second-degree murder.

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

King showed bias by disqualifying Tuoc Vo, a mechanic and Vietnamese immigrant, when there were no proper legal grounds to do so, the court concluded.

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

Valle’s attorney, J. Courtney Shevelson of Monterey, said King failed to establish that Vo had such problems.

The justices also found that King had improperly rejected a Latino for jury service.