Prosecutor Rethinks Murder Charge After Jail Talk : Crime: Rare, two-hour interview with Solana Beach woman accused of killing her husband has assistant district attorney reconsidering if the case should be tried.

A 34-year-old Solana Beach woman pleaded not guilty Monday to the murder of her husband of 5 1/2 years--but, in light of a rare, two-hour jailhouse interview, the prosecutor held out the possibility that the charges might be dropped.

Kimberly Delon has admitted to authorities that she killed her husband, Bernard, on Aug. 31, claiming it was in self-defense as he tried to strangle her. She put his body in a sleeping bag and buried it in the front yard of the couple’s house before asking her mother to call police.

She spoke with homicide detectives for 30 minutes after her arrest, then met for two hours Friday with Deputy Dist. Atty. Ann Barber, the prosecutor who, for now, is trying to convict her of murder.

Her defense attorney, Charles Goldberg, said he consented to the interview because his client had nothing to hide and because he thought the face-to-face encounter might prompt the district attorney’s office to drop the case.

Such a pretrial interview with a defendant, Barber said, is unprecedented in her nine years as a prosecutor.

“It’s a unique situation where you can interview someone accused of murder for two hours, with a defense attorney present who doesn’t interrupt you, and she’s quick with her answers and is forthright, and you have information that will accelerate your case,” Barber said Monday after Delon’s arraignment in Vista Municipal Court.

Barber said Delon was read the Miranda rights before the taped interview, meaning that what she said could be used in court.

“A skillful prosecutor can get you to make admissions that you don’t know are terribly damaging,” Barber said. “A prosecutor can collect evidence right from your own mouth that will be very helpful in convicting you. Anything you say can and will be used against you.

“That’s exactly what happened Friday. The danger (to a defense attorney) is, if you’re representing somebody who’s guilty, they’ll convict themselves out of their own mouth.”

Barber said she wouldn’t discuss in detail what she learned from the jailhouse interview, except that Delon was claiming self-defense in stabbing her husband, a French citizen.

“We talked for two hours,” Barber said. “She never hesitated to answer any of my questions, and her attorney never interrupted me. There was no game playing.”

Goldberg said Bernard Delon had subjected Kimberly Delon to “long-term” emotional, verbal and physical abuse, and was trying to strangle her 10 days ago when, this time, she fought back and stabbed him fatally with a knife.

He said bruises on his client’s neck substantiate her claim that her husband was attacking her.

“It’s very rare that a defense lawyer will let someone be interviewed by a prosecutor, but in this case we were confident from our investigation the interview would be entirely consistent with the statement she made immediately upon her arrest,” Goldberg said. “She explained the circumstances that led to her defending herself.

“Sometimes a lawyer can be overprotective of his client. But this was a case where we felt there was nothing to hide. There were no surprises in (Barber’s) questions, and the answers were consistent and truthful.”

Goldberg said it was clear that Barber was enough impressed with his client’s interview that she didn’t object to Delon being released on $75,000 bail--an unusually low amount in a murder case.

Delon’s family on Monday was completing the paperwork to secure a property bond--with her home as collateral--so she could be released from jail before day’s end.

If Delon is taken to trial and convicted, she could be sentenced to 27 years to life in prison.

Barber said that, the interview notwithstanding, she still charged Delon with murder Monday--but that the case may be dropped before it goes to trial.

“A final decision on whether the case is prosecuted cannot be made until all the reports are delivered to the D.A.’s office--especially and including the autopsy,” Barber said.

“We don’t want to jump to any conclusions, either for or against someone, until we have all the facts. She has cooperated fully. We have all the facts we can take from her, and now we need the other parts of the story that will either corroborate her, or blow her out of the water.”

Goldberg said he didn’t expect the district attorney’s office to drop the case immediately.

“But I wanted to give the prosecutor a chance to see this woman in person, to see how she physically and emotionally reacted to questions, and not to have to rely simply on reports,” he said. “The interview will help them evaluate the case and see what kind of a witness she would be.”

He said the strangest aspect of the case was Delon’s decision to bury her husband’s body in the front yard. “She was in such an emotional shock afterwards, she didn’t immediately call the police. The first thing she did, to protect the children (ages 3 and 5), was to bury the body.”

Goldberg said that, after Delon is released on bail, she will seek therapy.

Her next court appearance is Oct. 25, when Municipal Judge David Ryan will set subsequent court dates. Delon waived her right to a timely preliminary examination so investigative reports can be concluded and evaluated.