Juror Misconduct Alleged in Murder-Rape Case

A man who served on the jury that convicted a 25-year-old Costa Mesa handyman of the rape and murder of a Laguna Hills woman and recommended the death sentence may be called back to court next week to answer questions about a comment he made during jury deliberations.

Attorneys for convicted murderer Eric Wayne Bennett have asked Superior Court Judge Kathleen E. O’Leary to declare a mistrial in the case.

According to some other members of the panel, the juror mentioned during deliberations that he had once been arrested in a bar fight, which appears to contradict his earlier statements to attorneys, Deputy Public Defender Leonard Gumlia said Friday at a hearing on the matter.

Defense attorneys say the inconsistency could constitute juror misconduct, and Gumlia on Friday requested O’Leary’s permission to subpoena the juror, whose name has not been released.

The public defender’s office brought the inconsistency to the judge’s attention on Dec. 13, when Bennett was scheduled to be sentenced. Since that time, however, neither defense attorneys nor prosecutors have been able to confirm that the man has an arrest record.

“Unless he’s playing a real weird game, there’s an arrest out there somewhere,” Gumlia said during Friday’s brief hearing on the misconduct allegation. “I’d like to find out what really happened here because I’m befuddled.”

O’Leary gave Gumlia permission to subpoena the juror and set another hearing on the issue for Thursday. At that time, she said, she will decide whether the juror should be called into court.

“This issue really needs to be resolved as opposed to just being passed on to an appellate court,” O’Leary said. Appeals are automatic in death-penalty cases.

O’Leary also set a hearing for Friday to consider the defense’s request for a new trial.

In September, the jury recommended that Bennett be executed for the murder of 50-year-old Marie Evans Powell, who was bludgeoned, raped and robbed.

A month earlier, the same jury had convicted Bennett of killing Powell and raping one of his neighbors at knifepoint.

The jury’s verdict included findings that the murder took place during a rape and during a burglary, special circumstances that make Bennett eligible for the death penalty.