Peng Trial Jury Deadlocks, Told to Keep Deliberating

Jurors in the double-murder trial of Li-Yun (Lisa) Peng, a case which has caused a sensation in the Chinese community here and abroad, indicated Friday they were deadlocked, but were told to keep trying.

The jurors, who began deliberating Wednesday, ended the day without a verdict and will resume deliberations Tuesday.

Peng, a 45-year-old Taiwanese national, is accused of murdering her husband’s mistress and the woman’s 5-month-old son in Mission Viejo two years ago. The two-month trial has attracted intense media coverage in Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China, where the victim grew up.

Heightening a sense of intrigue, Orange County Superior Court Judge Kathleen E. O’Leary said the jury’s note indicated the vote count, but she did not disclose the numbers. O’Leary expressed frustration at how fast the jury declared itself deadlocked--and at the way some reporters have hounded the panelists during breaks.

A juror was dismissed Tuesday during closing arguments after he was approached by one of the two dozen Chinese-language journalists who have swarmed the case.

“This trial has neither been short nor simple,” O’Leary told the panel during a brief pep talk in open court.

O’Leary said jurors have been “harassed by certain journalists.” Some of those reporters have crowded around panelists during breaks and even taken their photographs, against the usual court policy.

“I can’t believe this is happening. I feel ashamed,” Lynn Shih, a correspondent for a Hong Kong-based satellite-television network, said later.

The judge declined a defense motion for a mistrial, arguing the panel had deliberated less than a complete day. She said the jury improperly indicated the vote count, but said it did not warrant a mistrial.

Word of a possible deadlock added to the mystery around the case. Since Wednesday, O’Leary has locked the courtroom to reporters and family members, who have watched lawyers on both sides shuttle in and out for two days without explanation. The attorneys said they were under order not to disclose what was going on inside and O’Leary gave no explanation for the closed-door sessions.

It appeared that at least some of that time involved an interview of a juror. Defense attorney Marshall M. Schulman indicated in the open court session that one juror had been questioned on a range of topics, including any contact by outsiders. It was clear from O’Leary’s remarks that jurors had deliberated only several hours by Friday.

Peng faces up to life in prison without possibility of parole if convicted of fatally stabbing Ranbing (Jennifer) Ji and Ji’s child, Kevin, in August, 1993. Ji, 25, was the mistress of electronics tycoon Tseng (Jim) Peng. The slain infant was Jim Peng’s son.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Molko charged that Lisa Peng killed in a jealous rage and to protect her stake in the family’s radio empire from the mistress and son. Schulman has argued that Jim Peng murdered the pair to avoid the taint a divorce might leave on his business empire.

Ji and her baby were slain in Ji’s Mission Viejo apartment, a few miles from a home that the Pengs owned in Rancho Santa Margarita.