PORT HUENEME : Man Convicted of Killing Seeks Retrial

Alleging jury misconduct, the attorney for a Port Hueneme man convicted of killing Andy Anderson has filed a motion with Ventura County Superior Court seeking a new trial.

“We don’t think we got a fair trial,” said Steve Pell, the attorney who defended Timothy Chrestman. Pell said James Trisdale, the jury foreman, knew the Chrestman family and concealed that fact from the court.

“He was asked that question specifically” during jury selection, Pell said.

In the motion filed with the court, Chrestman’s brother, William, alleges that Trisdale’s son lived with the Chrestman family in 1992. The motion further claims that Trisdale pressured at least one juror, Edmundo Rosas, into changing his vote to convict Timothy Chrestman.

“Some of the other jurors and I wanted to vote not guilty, but the foreman kept on pressuring us to vote guilty,” Rosas said in an affidavit filed with the motion.

Neither Trisdale nor Rosas could be reached Wednesday for comment.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Calvert declined to comment on the motion.

“There’s not much I can tell you because it is a pending case,” Calvert said.

Chrestman, 20, was convicted Feb. 21 of shooting to death 24-year-old Anderson of Simi Valley. Chrestman faces a life prison term without the possibility of parole. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 13, the same day the motion for a new trial will be heard.