San Diego

A jury was to take the unusual action today of deliberating on a Saturday in the murder case of a man accused of strangling a teen-age girl on her way to school.

One of the jurors in the capital murder case against Willie Ray Roberts, 36, has already paid for a vacation to Europe and is scheduled to leave within a week.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Norbert Ehrenfreund took the rare step of ordering deliberations today in hopes that a verdict might be reached before the juror has to leave.

The case involves the July 12, 1988, strangulation of Melissa Orchulli, 17, whose body was found in a vacant house on Euclid Avenue. She had been on her way to a continuation school.

If Roberts is convicted of first-degree murder, the same jury will convene to discuss whether to recommend the death penalty or a life term in prison without parole.

If jurors cannot reach a verdict by the time the one juror is to leave, an alternate will be named to take his place. However, this would mean the jury would have to begin deliberations again. Jurors will not deliberate on Sunday, however, if no verdict is reached today.

Roberts also is accused of molesting three girls who walked to school in the same block as Orchulli.

Jury deliberations began Wednesday after a trial that started April 2.

Roberts, who has a previous assault conviction, remains in County Jail.