D. A. Says Public Defender Impeding Dally Case

A day after officials confirmed that a body dumped in a deep ravine north of Ventura was that of a missing Ventura woman, prosecutors accused public defenders of muddling the murder case by counseling the chief suspect.

Meanwhile, the husband of homicide victim Sherri Renee Dally was in court Monday to appeal for custody of his two young children. That case was dismissed in light of this weekend’s grisly discovery.

Prosecutors said the public defender’s office is impeding the investigation and asked a judge to ban defense attorneys from representing Diana J. Haun, whom police consider their prime suspect.

Because no charges have been filed in the case, prosecutors contend that there is no justification for a court-appointed attorney to represent Haun, who was arrested on suspicion of murdering Dally. Haun was later released from jail for lack of evidence.

The district attorney “questions the authority of the Public Defender’s office to engage in a defense of a suspect who is not in custody and not charged with a crime,” the document filed in Ventura County Superior Court states.

“This conduct is particularly troublesome, as it came at a time when law enforcement was attempting to locate the body of Sherri Dally and identify all involved suspects.”

Public defenders have interfered with investigators by advising Haun’s family members not to discuss the case with anyone, including police and prosecutors, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin G. DeNoce argued in court papers.

DeNoce declined to discuss his motion Monday. But Public Defender Kenneth I. Clayman said the law allows his office to defend suspects who have not been charged with a crime.

“We have every right to represent her,” Clayman said. “This person was incarcerated twice and pending arraignment.”

The issue will be argued Thursday along with the defense request for access to sealed search warrants served at Haun’s Port Hueneme home. Prosecutors are opposing the request.

“Disclosure at this time would reveal information acquired in confidence, the disclosure of which would be against the public interest,” court documents state.

Also on Monday, Superior Court Judge Colleen “Toy” White dismissed Michael Dally’s legal separation filing and custody claim Monday, calling the petition moot because Sherri Dally was found dead over the weekend after a highly publicized, monthlong disappearance.

Michael Dally, who filed separation papers one week after his wife’s disappearance, retains custody of the children.

Sherri Dally’s mother, Karlyne Guess, appeared in court with a family law attorney on behalf of her late daughter. Attorney Michael Percy said his client has no plans to fight for custody of the children--Devon, 8, and Max, 6.

“She and Mr. Dally are cooperating to do what is best for the kids,” said Percy, who added that his client spent Monday making funeral arrangements for her daughter. “Both sets of grandparents want to spend time with the children and the father is open to that.”

No one answered the front door of the Dally home in Ventura on Monday. Michael Dally, who represented himself in court Monday, declined to discuss the ongoing murder probe.

Friends of Sherri Dally discovered her skeletal remains in a rugged ditch off Canada Larga Road on Saturday. Officials used dental records to identify the body as Dally’s on Sunday.

Officials spent part of Monday at the offices of the Ventura County coroner-medical examiner, where physicians conducted an autopsy on Dally’s body.

“We have a probable cause of death, but we’re withholding that information pending further investigation on the part of the Ventura Police Department,” said Senior Deputy Coroner Jim Wingate.

Wingate did say that a team of investigators from Ventura and the district attorney’s office attended briefings after the morning-long autopsy. But the group sought to delay releasing details of the death.

Lt. Carl Handy, the only Ventura police official designated to speak publicly about the case, said Monday that he had no new information to release.

Although the investigation is ongoing and detectives continue to gather new information in the case, Handy said he was reluctant to issue any statement for fear of tainting any eventual prosecution.

“There’s no urgency to it,” said Handy, who reaffirmed Monday that investigators still believe that Haun did not act alone. “The urgency we were concerned about had to do with the nature of Sherri Dally being missing. That issue has been resolved now.”

Dally disappeared May 6 from the parking lot of a Target store, where witnesses saw her stepping into a blue-green-toned car. On May 18, Haun was arrested in connection with Dally’s disappearance and presumed murder.

Haun is a former co-worker of Michael Dally’s, and neighbors said the two were involved in a romantic relationship. Police found her name on the rental forms for a blue-green Nissan Altima rented one day before Sherri Dally’s disappearance and returned the day after her disappearance. Police also found blood in the car.

But after four days in custody at Ventura County Jail, Haun was released because investigators lacked enough evidence to charge her.

Under intense interrogation, she did not budge from her original story that she lost her credit cards before the car was rented. The signature on the rental car receipt does not match Haun’s, said Neil B. Quinn, Haun’s deputy public defender.

Investigators are now conducting tests to determine if blood found in the rental car matches Dally’s DNA.

Haun, though still a suspect, is free to move about as she sees fit, Handy said.

“Diana Haun has no legal constraints on her,” he said. “She can do whatever she wants.”

A woman who answered the door at Haun’s Port Hueneme home Monday declined to discuss the case.