D.A. to Seek Death Penalty for Haun, Dally

Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said Friday that he plans to seek the death penalty against Diana Haun and Michael Dally, who are accused of kidnapping and murdering Dally’s wife and then dumping her body in a ravine.

Dally, 36, and Haun, 35, are accused of plotting and carrying out the kidnap-slaying of Sherri Dally, who was abducted from a Target Store parking lot May 6.

The 35-year-old Ventura mother of two young sons was found stabbed and bludgeoned to death June 1 in a ravine along Canada Larga Road north of Ventura.

“I cannot comment on the specific circumstances of the case but I can say that the district attorney took a very long look at the evidence,” said Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Lela M. Henke-Dobroth, who with Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Frawley will prosecute the case.

“In general terms, the horrific nature of the case makes it a case that the district attorney believes warrants the death penalty,” Henke-Dobroth said.

The announcement comes on the heels of a Superior Court decision Wednesday to try the pair together.

According to Henke-Dobroth, Bradbury reviewed the 1,585 pages of testimony given to the Ventura County Grand Jury and consulted with a committee of his chief deputies before deciding to seek the death penalty.

Dally and Haun, who have been having an adulterous affair the past two years, pleaded not guilty to the charges Dec. 4 at a joint arraignment.

Prosecutors allege the pair conspired to kill Sherri Dally for financial gain and while lying in wait. Those special circumstances make the case eligible for the death penalty.

Deputy Public Defender Neil B. Quinn, who represents Haun, said the district attorney’s decision, though not surprising, is disturbing.

Quinn said the death penalty should be reserved for the most brutal slayings, and that Haun’s lack of a criminal record or any violent history should preclude her from execution.

“If one throws away the emotional aspects involved in the case, you’re left with a woman with no criminal record who has been a productive member of society and that had a documented brain injury,” Quinn said. In the late 1970s, Haun sustained a skull fracture when a basketball backboard fell on her head.

“I don’t think Ms. Haun has hurt another person in her entire life,” he said.

Ventura County has traditionally given defense attorneys an opportunity to meet with the district attorney before a decision on whether to seek the death penalty is made, Quinn said. But in this case that never happened, he said.

“If I understand the prosecution’s argument in this case, they think Ms. Haun’s role was motivated primarily by her love for Mike Dally,” Quinn said. “That has not traditionally been an aggravating factor but a mitigating factor when you look at a case.”

The defense plans to file a pretrial motion to see what role the amount of publicity played in the decision to seek the death penalty, Quinn said.

“I’m very concerned about the amount of publicity in the case,” he said. “But what I really wanted to do today is to express my regret at the decision of the district attorney and to say I don’t think it serves the citizens of the county well.”

Dally’s attorney, Jim Farley, said simply he believed the decision to go for the death penalty was political.

“It’s a straight political decision,” Farley said. “I can’t go along with anything that points to my client’s guilt. There is no evidence against him that would warrant the death penalty, but they already decided they were going to do it when they filed the special circumstances charge. That means life without parole, which means the death penalty anyway. It’s just a question about whether you go naturally or they kill you.”

The case is set to go to trial Feb. 3, with prosecutors anticipating more than 50 witnesses and four months of testimony.