Sturm Retrial Opposed by Six Jurors

Six of the 12 jurors who deadlocked in the penalty phase of the Gregory Allan Sturm triple murder trial have taken the unusual step of asking prosecutors not to again seek a death sentence for the former Tustin store clerk.

The jurors who convicted Sturm, 22, of killing three former co-workers during a 1990 robbery signed a letter contending that a retrial would be a waste of taxpayers’ money and would probably not result in a unanimous verdict.

“The best they could hope to achieve would be another split verdict,” said jury foreman Joe C. Tarantino, 47, of Anaheim, who questioned in the letter whether “politics” were involved.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lewis R. Rosenblum said Friday that the district attorney’s office considered the Aug. 25 letter but decided to retry Sturm based on the seriousness of the crime and new evidence that will be revealed during the trial.

“These cases are handled on a case by case basis and are reviewed very carefully, but we can’t just add up who is for and who is against and go with that,” Rosenblum said. “If this case doesn’t deserve the death penalty, I don’t know what does.”

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Santa Ana Superior Court. A copy of the letter was made available by Deputy Public Defender William G. Kelley, to whom it was addressed. Kelley is representing Sturm.

Sturm was high on cocaine on Aug. 19, 1990, when he robbed a Tustin auto parts store where he was once employed for money to buy more drugs. Despite one man’s pleas for mercy, Sturm bound the men and shot them at close range to eliminate any witnesses. He then fled with $1,100.

He was convicted May 8 of three counts of first-degree murder and robbery and one count of burglary.

The jurors believe that Sturm was properly convicted of his crimes, Tarantino said. The foreman said the jurors deadlocked 10-2 on the penalty phase June 10 because they had trouble determining whether the circumstances in favor of the death penalty outweighed factors supporting a life prison term.

Rosenblum said he was surprised to learn that jurors were against a retrial. He said about 10 jurors approached him immediately after the case to say they believed the penalty phase should be retried.

Rosenblum declined to speculate on what made the jurors change their mind.

Kelley, Sturm’s defense attorney, said he did not solicit the letter from the jurors but was pleased when they offered their support.

“I think this is great,” said Kelley, who said jurors after the trial also approached him to say there should not be a retrial. “This really gives me hope for humanity.”

Tarantino said he and other jurors came to their decisions after learning more details about Sturm’s background from Kelley after the case ended and reading news reports of two other people convicted of murder in which the death penalty was not sought again after jurors deadlocked.

Kelley said he plans to argue, as he did in the first penalty trial, that Sturm suffered regular physical abuse as a child and had witnessed the sexual abuse of another family member.

“Considering the great cost at taxpayers’ expense, time and the unnecessary emotional burden placed on the families of all the concerned parties, it seems inconceivable that the district attorney would attempt to seek a retrial,” the letter signed by Tarantino and five other jurors reads.

“If there is virtually no chance of attaining a unanimous verdict, and yet the district attorney decides to go ahead with the retrial, then it appears as if the Sturm case is being used for political purposes,” the letter reads.

The letter is signed by jurors Tarantino, Brian Benson, Cecil Brown, Yvonne Herrell, Carol Martens and Mike San Roman. The letter says six other jurors, including the two who favored the death penalty, have also indicated they were opposed to any retrial. Efforts to reach 10 of the jurors were unsuccessful.

But juror Frank Hansen, who voted for the death penalty, said the letter does not reflect his feelings.

“I feel bad that so many people will have to go through it again, but I think this case should be finally settled,” he said.

The letter compares the Sturm case to the murder trials of Daniel Duffy, 49, and co-defendant Thomas Maniscalco, 47, motorcycle gang members who were convicted of slaying three men during Memorial Day weekend, 1980. Jurors on Aug. 14 announced they were deadlocked 7 to 5 in favor of the death penalty in Duffy’s case.

Prosecutors later decided not to retry the penalty phase of Duffy’s trial, and decided not to seek the death penalty against Maniscalco.