Judge to Call More Possible Haun Jurors

With the vast majority of prospective jurors claiming personal and financial hardship, an additional 200 candidates will be summoned in the murder trial of Diana Haun.

By widening the net in search of qualified jury candidates, Judge Frederick A. Jones has called one of the largest pools of potential jurors--at least 450--in a Ventura County case.

Prosecutors said about 500 prospective jurors were screened for last year’s murder trial of Daniel Allan Tuffree, who shot and killed a Simi Valley police officer.

Nearly the same number was called for the murder trial of Mark Scott Thornton two years ago, prosecutors said. Thornton was convicted of killing Westlake nurse Kellie O’Sullivan in 1993.

“The numbers are about the same, at least in terms of the ones I’ve done,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter Kossoris, who prosecuted Tuffree and Thornton.

By comparison, 400 jurors were sought in the civil trial of O.J. Simpson last fall and more than 1,000 were called for his criminal trial in Los Angeles in 1995.

Before jury selection began in the Haun case, Jones told attorneys he hoped they would seat a panel of 18--the jury of 12 plus six alternates--from an initial group of about 200 candidates.

About 250 Santa Barbara residents showed up June 30 for the first phase of jury selection in the high-profile Ventura County case, which is expected to last about four months.

But the number of potential panelists shrunk to 70 after many residents told Jones they would not be able to serve on such a lengthy trial.

A Santa Barbara jury is being sought because of heavy pretrial publicity in Ventura County. Jury selection is being held in various Santa Barbara courtrooms. The trial will be held in Ventura.

Starting July 17, the judge and attorneys will begin sifting through a second group of jury candidates to reach their 18-member goal.

At least 200 new candidates would be called into the meeting room of the Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors in two groups, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

Eager to keep the case moving at a brisk pace, Jones told the lawyers Tuesday that he wants to increase the number of panelists interviewed each day to eight instead of four.