Judge Agrees to Consider New Request for Retrial

A Ventura County Municipal Court judge agreed Thursday to hear a renewed request to retry an Oxnard man who was convicted of drug use by a jury that included a county prosecutor as its foreman.

Judge Steven E. Hintz is scheduled to hear a motion today from the county public defender’s office to hold a new trial for William Lopez, 28.

A jury that included Deputy Dist. Atty. Terence M. Kilbride deliberated for just 15 minutes before convicting Lopez on Aug. 2 of being under the influence of heroin. Hintz then sentenced Lopez to 330 days in the Ventura County Jail.

On Wednesday, Hintz refused to set aside the verdict, despite motions from Lopez, Asst. Public Defender Jean L. Farley and Deputy Dist. Atty. Edward F. Brodie that Lopez be granted a new trial.

Hintz said in his ruling that Lopez had insisted that Kilbride be included on his jury and “had a fit” when the prosecutor in the case offered to excuse him.

But on Thursday, Hintz agreed without comment to hear a new motion to retry Lopez.

Farley said she did more thorough research on the new motion and listened to tapes of statements that Lopez made during jury selection.

She said Lopez misunderstood a juror questionnaire, on which Kilbride listed his law school degree as “juris doctor.”

“In fact, the defendant believed Mr. Kilbride was a doctor,” Farley said. “The defendant says on the record, ‘I don’t want Dr. Kilbride to be excused because he’s a doctor, and he would have more information about this case.’ ”

Farley also disputed Hintz’s ruling that the motion for a new trial was invalid because it was entered after Lopez’s sentencing.

“In fact, the defendant did bring a motion for a new trial before he was sentenced,” Farley said. “The defendant just said he wanted a new trial. He didn’t use any legal grounds. He did give the reason that he was unjustly convicted.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Kent D. Baker, who prosecuted Lopez, confirmed Farley’s account of Kilbride’s appointment to the jury.

“On the jury questionnaire about the fifth or sixth line down it says, ‘level of education,’ and Terry wrote, ‘juris doctor,’ ” Baker said Thursday. The questionnaire went on to list Kilbride’s 15 years as a Ventura County prosecutor and his prior work on the Chicago police force, which Lopez may have missed, Baker said. “If he stopped reading at line five, I guess he could have thought Terry was a doctor,” he said.

Lopez has told The Times that he mistook Kilbride for a doctor, but asked for a new trial only because the witnesses whom he wanted to testify failed to accept his collect phone calls from the Ventura County Jail.