Sentence Delayed for Gravely Ill Grandmother

A 75-year-old woman who admitted shooting and killing her estranged son-in-law is gravely ill, leaving court officials unsure when, if ever, the snowy-haired grandmother will be sentenced for the crime.

Jo Lula Haynes, who suffered a stroke last week, is on a life support system at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, authorities said. She is listed in critical condition.

Her sentencing for the 1993 murder of Kenneth Lisi, 43--a Walt Disney Co. executive--was postponed again Tuesday as court officials continue to await a change in her condition.

A defendant is required to be present in court for sentencing.

“We can’t do anything until she gets better or until there’s a death certificate,” said Deputy District Atty. Carole Chizever, who prosecuted Haynes.

Haynes faces 19 years to life in prison and may not be paroled before she reaches age 86.

“I’m sad that she’s sick and on life support,” Chizever said.

In November, after two days of testimony in her murder trial, Haynes accepted a prosecution offer and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. A first-degree murder conviction would have left her facing life in prison without parole.

Lisi, who was embroiled in a bitter divorce dispute with Haynes’s daughter, Pamela, was shot outside the family’s house in Northridge on Halloween night. Lisi arrived at the Louise Avenue home to pick up his two daughters--who were ages 4 and 11 at the time.

Lisi’s parents said in court they saw Haynes shoot Lisi three times. Lisi had won custody of the girls 10 weeks earlier.

Haynes had claimed her granddaughters had been molested by Lisi, a charge never proven.

Judge Bert Glennon Jr., who originally scheduled sentencing for Jan. 19, said he would recommend that Haynes be housed in a minimum-security prison close to her family.

But a new lawyer hired by Haynes’ daughters has filed court documents trying to withdraw the guilty plea.

The documents, filed by lawyer W. Ronald Seabold, contend that Haynes was sick, sleep-deprived and under the influence of more than a dozen medications when she entered the guilty plea.

Seabold contends that Haynes did not know that she could face 19 years in prison in the plea bargain.

Deputy Public Defender Michael M. Duffey, who spent two years as Haynes’ lawyer, said the prosecution’s offer was explained to Haynes, who discussed her decision with relatives beforehand.

Despite some family members’ opposition to the plea agreement, Haynes agreed to plead guilty, largely to spare her granddaughters from having to testify in court, Duffey said.

“I feel terrible about her medical condition,” Duffey said. “I think further legal proceedings in the case, at this point, are irrelevant.”

The fact remains, Chizever said, that Lisi was killed.

“She did murder her son-in-law,” the prosecutor said.