COSTA MESA : Mercedes Murder Retrial Up to Judge

A Newport Beach woman accused of killing her stepdaughter’s husband by running him down with her Mercedes-Benz has agreed to waive a jury for her retrial and let a judge decide the case.

Betty Y. Davies, 60, faces charges of vehicular manslaughter in the Dec. 19, 1989 death of James Ward, 31, who was thrown from the hood of her speeding Mercedes in front of his Costa Mesa home. Davies had admitted to spying on her stepdaughter, Wendy Ward, and harassing the couple for years.

Davies’ first trial in March was declared a mistrial after jurors were hopelessly deadlocked at 10-2 in favor of conviction.

Davies was scheduled to be retried before a jury this week, but attorneys in the case agreed to a non-jury trial. Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan will decide the case based on the evidence presented in the first trial plus a new set of closing arguments on Sept. 13.

Non-jury trials are rare, and usually are favored only by prosecutors, particularly when the first trial vote was overwhelmingly in their favor.

Davies’ attorney, Marshall Schulman, said Tuesday that he has had reservations about such trials in the past because “I haven’t had very good luck with them,” but added that he believes it is best for both sides in this case.

“Both sides think that the evidence supports their position, and we each think that an impartial judge will see things our way,” Schulman said.

At the first trial, many of the jurors were outraged at Davies because she made a number of derogatory statements about the victim during her testimony. Schulman said those statements may have moved some jurors to vote guilty.