Long Beach : Judge Rejects New Trial in Ace of Spades Murder

A Poly High School student convicted of killing a schoolmate in the Ace of Spades murder case was denied a new trial this week and will be sentenced in October.

Michael McDonald, 18, faces 15 years to life in prison or incarceration in the California Youth Authority’s juvenile prison until he is 25.

In May, a jury convicted McDonald of second-degree murder in the killing of 16-year-old Alexander Giraldo, who was strangled with wire, stabbed in the neck with a stick and tossed off an oceanfront cliff in San Pedro on Feb. 1, 1992. Jurors acquitted two other defendants, Schuyler MacPherson, 19, and Bryan Davis, 18.

MacPherson, Davis and their parents attended McDonald’s hearing Monday in Long Beach Superior Court, where attorney Chris L. Ayers requested a new trial because one of the jurors allegedly prejudged the case.

The jury’s forewoman testified that another juror whispered several inappropriate comments, such as “They did it,” before entering jury deliberations.

But Judge Victor T. Barrera denied the request for a new trial, noting that the same juror voted to acquit the other defendants and voted to convict McDonald of second-degree murder instead of the more serious first-degree murder.

The case gained national attention last year when it was linked to a paramilitary gang at Poly High called the Ace of Spades, which committed crimes such as vandalism and auto burglaries.