OXNARD : Mistrial Declared for Man in Drug Case

A mistrial was declared Thursday in the case of an Oxnard man accused of using an 8-year-old girl to sell ocaine, after several jurors said they had read or heard news accounts of the case.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Frederick A. Jones declared the mistrial shortly before jurors were to begin deliberations in the trial of Jose Venegas, 20.

Defense attorney Timothy J. Quinn requested the action after a story about the case appeared on the front page of a local newspaper and was also mentioned on a Ventura radio station’s morning news program.

The newspaper story quoted Deputy Dist. Atty. Nancy L. Ayers as saying that Venegas could receive up to 14 years in prison if convicted.

The prosecutor also said that the defendant’s former girlfriend had pleaded guilty in the same case, according to the newspaper account.

An Oxnard police official was quoted as saying the use of children in drug deals was unusual.

Acknowledging that none of the information disclosed was relevant in the case against Venegas, Jones said it could prejudice the jury against the defendant.

Although the jurors told Jones that they believed they could ignore the news accounts in their deliberations, the judge said the only way to make sure Venegas got a fair trial was to seat a new jury and try the case again.

Venegas’ trial had begun Tuesday and received no publicity until Thursday morning.

The judge said neither of the attorneys had asked him to tell the jurors to avoid news accounts.

Venegas is scheduled to be tried again Sept. 8.

Ayers said he might not be retried, however, because she hesitates to make the 8-year-old witness testify again.

She could not be reached for comment later Thursday.

“Frankly, I can’t think of a good reason why we find ourselves in this situation,” Jones said.

The judge denied Ayers’ request to make a statement.

“Maybe I’ll read about it in the newspaper,” he said.