McMartin Defendant Cautioned : Judge Says He’ll Fine or Jail Peggy Buckey if She Talks to Jurors

A judge threatened Peggy McMartin Buckey on Friday with fines or jail time if she continues to talk to jurors, after he received a report from a deputy district attorney about her conduct.

The McMartin Pre-School defendant was seen talking to a juror--although apparently not a McMartin juror--late Thursday, only a day after her comments in an elevator, overheard by a juror in a murder case being tried in a neighboring courtroom, led to the dismissal of that juror. The jury, which had been deliberating the fate of accused murderer Harvey Rader for two weeks, was ordered to begin anew with an alternate juror.

Superior Court Judge William Pounders said Buckey’s garrulousness is “getting out of hand” and ordered her to remain in an office he has provided for the defense or to be accompanied by her attorney throughout the court day.

Differing Accounts

The two sides gave differing accounts of the latest conversation, which will be the subject of a hearing Monday.

Buckey’s lawyer, Dean Gits, told reporters that “the nature of Peggy is to be friendly.” He said the only conversations she can recall within the past two days were brief exchanges with a woman who complimented her on her earrings and with a young man who sat down on the bench next to her and asked how things were going. Gits said he does not know if she was aware that either was a juror.

However, prosecutors said Deputy Dist. Atty. Reid Rose reported that he watched Buckey engage a juror in conversation for more than five minutes as they walked through the building and down the stairs toward the parking lot. The woman, who walked with a cane, was wearing a juror’s badge but had not yet been picked for a jury. The subject of the conversation was allegedly Buckey’s concern about the woman’s health, prosecutors said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lael Rubin said she is concerned that Buckey is attempting to project the image of “a nice person” in front of McMartin jurors.

“Something has to be done,” Pounders told the attorneys and Buckey.

“It’s getting worse,” he said. “This is all within the last few days we’ve had this problem repeated, constantly, and usually involving Mrs. Buckey.” He said that after recent events he would have thought that “she would run like the devil was pursuing her” if anyone approached.

‘Money Damages or Jail Time’

Pounders said he will “impose sanctions” if he finds at the Monday hearing that his orders have been violated. “That means money damages or jail time. That’s how serious it is,” he said.

“I don’t have extra jurors to lose. It becomes absolutely critical to the completion of this case that the participants in this trial not have communications in front of any jurors anywhere, both to protect this trial and other trials.”

Both the defense and prosecution briefly questioned Buckey’s son, Ray, who has been testifying in his own defense for 10 days, before he stepped down from the witness stand. Outside the courtroom, he held his mother as she sobbed, apparently upset at the dressing down she had received from Pounders.