Judge OKs Release of Transcripts in Haun Case

Despite objections by prosecutors and defense attorneys, Superior Court Judge Frederick A. Jones said Thursday that he intends to release a censored copy of grand jury transcripts in the Diana J. Haun murder case.

Ruling that the public has a right to such information, Jones said he has edited the transcripts to remove testimony about other suspects in the slaying of Ventura homemaker Sherri Dally.

Because the county grand jury and law enforcement agencies have not completed their investigation of the slaying, Jones said there are portions of the transcripts that should remain sealed.

“The testimony of other suspects does not apply to the case against Ms. Haun,” Jones said.

He asked the attorneys to review his editing of the eight volumes of transcripts and meet with him next week to discuss the changes.

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The grand jury indicted Haun last month in the kidnap and slaying of Dally, whose skeletal remains were found in a ravine north of Ventura on June 1 by a search party of friends.

Haun, 35, is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly abducting Dally from a Ventura department store parking lot, stabbing her with a knife and bludgeoning her to death with a hatchet or other blunt object.

She has pleaded not guilty and denied a special allegation of lying in wait that would make her eligible for the death penalty if convicted. Her trial is set for Feb. 3.

For the past two years, Haun has acknowledged having an affair with Sherri Dally’s husband, Michael, who is also a suspect in the case.

Haun was arrested Aug. 1 after a three-month police investigation and has been held without bail at the county jail.

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The motion to unseal the grand jury transcripts, filed by the Ventura County Star, was one of five motions discussed in court during the hourlong hearing Thursday.

Jones denied a motion by Deputy Public Defender Neil Quinn to dismiss the special murder circumstance of lying in wait on the grounds that it fails to meet the narrow scope identified by the courts for death penalty cases.

In a separate motion, prosecutors asked the judge to compel defense lawyers to turn over any items of evidence they find. Quinn asked prosecutors to name specifically what they were after and denied having any of Haun’s knives in his custody.

“If this motion is about cutting instruments and whether we have taken any away from her house, we don’t have any cutting instruments,” Quinn said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Frawley accused the defense of playing games.

But with more than 5,000 pieces of evidence already marked in the case, Jones said the defense request that prosecutors be specific in their evidence requests seemed fair.

Throughout the hearing, Haun looked relaxed, smiling and laughing with her attorneys. At one point, she talked casually to the judge when he asked her to pronounce her first name.

The next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 21, when attorneys debate a motion about evidence.