Testimony on Sherri Dally’s State of Mind Not Allowed

A San Francisco psychologist will not be allowed to testify about what Sherri Dally was thinking in the final hours before she was murdered by Diana Haun, a Ventura County Superior Court judge ruled Thursday.

Chris Hatcher specializes in testimony about the emotions and behavior of kidnap and assault victims. He uses information from those cases to theorize how murder victims behaved while held captive.

Prosecutors hoped Hatcher, who could not be reached for comment, would testify during the penalty phase of Haun’s trial. Last month, Haun was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Dally, a 35-year-old Ventura woman who was married to Haun’s lover and co-defendant, Michael Dally.

The district attorney’s office hopes to present a number of Sherri Dally’s relatives, friends and other witnesses to testify about the emotional impact of her killing when the trial resumes Oct. 20. Prosecutors will try to persuade the jury to recommend the death penalty.

Defense attorneys objected to Hatcher’s theories as speculative, and Judge Frederick A. Jones agreed.

“I have nothing explained to me about this particular crime,” he said, while reading through a preliminary report by Hatcher. “I get nothing from it.”

Two other names were removed from the prosecution’s witness list when the district attorney’s office decided not to call Ann McGinty, who lives in England, for a pre-penalty phase hearing before Jones.

McGinty’s ex-husband, Chris, had an affair with Haun. When it broke up, Haun allegedly taunted McGinty with hang-up calls and left objects on her doorstep, including the severed head of a toy duck.

Jones hasn’t yet ruled on which of the prosecution’s witnesses, including Dally’s mother and the psychologist treating her two young sons, will be allowed to testify. He will hear more testimony on that matter and other motions Wednesday.

The defense must produce its witness list today, when Michael Dally is due in court for a trial-setting conference. Deputy Public Defender Susan Olson declined to say who would be on the list, but Thursday’s testimony indicated that it would include jail personnel to comment on Haun’s conduct while in custody.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lela Henke-Dobroth said the defense team had provided copies of high school yearbook photos and employment records that will also likely be part of the defense effort in the penalty phase.

Michael Dally is being tried separately from Haun, and his attorney, James Farley, is expected to file a motion for change of venue. Haun’s trial is being held in Ventura, but the jurors were selected from a pool of Santa Barbara County residents.

Farley, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, is expected to argue that publicity in Santa Barbara County has now eliminated that solution. During the first change-of-venue hearing, held in April, before Haun and Dally’s cases were separated, Farley said the sensational nature of much of the evidence made it impossible to find an unbiased jury locally.

Oxnard attorney David Shain, who has monitored the Haun trial and provided expert commentary for The Times, said he believes that a change of venue is highly likely and that the trial would have to be held somewhere else, perhaps in Los Angeles, Kern or San Luis Obispo counties.

It would be more difficult to seat an impartial jury here in the wake of the Haun trial, which included attacks on Dally’s character from both defense and prosecution.

“I would imagine Mr. Farley would have a very persuasive argument,” Shain said.

Farley has subpoenaed records of stories published in the Los Angeles Times and other area newspapers to demonstrate the extent of the publicity generated by the case.