Grand Jury Indicts Dally, Haun on Charge of Lying-In-Wait to Kill Wife

The Ventura County Grand Jury has again indicted Michael Dally and Diana Haun on a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait in connection with the killing of his wife, Sherri, last year.

The allegation--one of two that makes the pair eligible for the death penalty--was dismissed by Superior Court Judge Frederick A. Jones last month.

In a lengthy ruling, Jones found that prosecutors improperly instructed the grand jury when first presenting their case last summer. Jones found that they had presented evidence to the panel as if it proved, “as a matter of law,” that they had actually lain in wait.

With just three weeks before Dally and Haun’s scheduled trial, Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Lela Henke-Dobroth went back to the panel Wednesday in an effort to secure the lying-in-wait allegation.

“We just went back solely on that,” she said.

After a two-hour presentation by prosecutors, the grand jury returned an indictment about 4 p.m., she said. Dally and Haun are scheduled to be arraigned on the allegation during a hearing this morning.

The indictment marks the third time in the last eight months that their case has come before the grand jury.

The panel first indicted Haun, a 35-year-old grocery clerk from Port Hueneme, in August on charges of murder, kidnapping and the allegation of lying in wait.

The grand jury indicted Michael Dally, a 36-year-old Ventura resident and Haun’s co-worker, in November on the same charges. He was also indicted on a new charge of conspiracy and an allegation that Sherri Dally’s slaying was committed for financial gain. The panel also indicted Haun on the same charges.

Prosecutors believe the pair, who were having an affair, plotted his wife’s slaying. They contend that Haun stabbed and beat Sherri Dally to death after abducting her from the parking lot of a Ventura shopping center on May 6.

In a statement released Wednesday, prosecutors said they could have appealed Jones’ ruling rather than return to the grand jury, but that would have taken more time.

“In light of the evidence which justifies the lying-in-wait special circumstance, and since returning to the grand jury would not in itself result in a delay of the trial, this alternative was chosen,” the statement said.

Dally and Haun’s trial is scheduled to start May 12, although defense attorneys have requested a one-month postponement.