Ex-Informant May Testify in Haun Case

As prosecutors neared the conclusion of their case against murder suspect Diana Haun, defense attorneys on Tuesday demanded additional information about a felon who may be called to testify today against the 36-year-old grocery clerk.

If former police informant Marcie Fort takes the stand, she is expected to tell the jury about a conversation she had with Haun last year while the two were being held in Ventura County Jail.

During that discussion, Haun allegedly made a statement that may have connected her to the killing of Sherri Dally, prosecutors said. But defense attorneys argue Haun’s remarks were misconstrued. They said the defendant had declared her innocence to Fort.

On Tuesday, Haun’s attorneys fought to gain access to additional information on Fort’s criminal background--particularly her dealings with police and prosecutors.

Deputy Public Defender Susan Olson specifically questioned whether Fort had struck a “deal” with anyone at the Ventura Police Department or the district attorney’s office in exchange for her testimony.

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“No one has promised her anything in return for the information being provided,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Frawley responded during a court hearing outside the jury’s presence.

Frawley assured Judge Frederick A. Jones he had spoken personally with Fort and that she had provided the information about Haun voluntarily.

Fort will be allowed to testify, Jones ruled. But he expressed concern about the woman’s previous contact with law enforcement officials and asked Frawley to conduct further inquiries.

“This whole subject about failure to disclose informant relations has recently led to several cases where the prosecution has been criticized, and led to cases being overturned,” the judge said. “It is a veritable land mine.”

Fort is serving a two-year sentence in state prison for two felony convictions for drug possession, according to attorneys and court records. At one time she was working as an informant on narcotics sales for the Ventura police, attorneys said.

It was Fort’s involvement with drugs that prompted Olson to question her credibility in court Tuesday and demand additional information about her background before testimony resumes this morning.

“It is obvious she has sold and used drugs,” Olson argued, citing Fort’s criminal record.

“It seems likely to me that Marcie Fort knew Michael Dally from his life on the street,” Olson said. She suggested that such a connection would show bias and motive since Dally is also accused of killing his wife, Sherri.

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Previous witnesses, including a friend and former police officer, have testified during the trial that Dally had a history of drug use and involvement with prostitutes.

Haun and Dally were having an adulterous affair at the time of Sherri Dally’s death in May 1996. The 35-year-old homemaker and day-care center operator was abducted from a Target parking lot in Ventura and later killed, authorities say.

Haun and Dally--who are charged with kidnapping, murder and conspiracy--could face the death penalty if convicted at separate trials.

The debate over Fort came just as prosecutors prepare to conclude their case against Haun. They expect to call a few more witnesses today before resting their case after 4 1/2 weeks and more than 100 witnesses.

Seven witnesses took the stand Tuesday after the three-day holiday weekend. Margaret Schaeffer, a criminalist with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department who analyzed blood and fibers from inside a Nissan Altima rented by Haun, told the jury about her findings.

Schaeffer said six wig fibers were found inside the blue sedan, four of which match a wig similar to the one police bought when trying to duplicate a wig Haun purchased days before Sherri Dally’s kidnapping.

But on cross-examination, Schaeffer acknowledged the fibers are also consistent with a popular type of wig manufactured by the same cosmetic company.

Schaeffer also said she found no evidence of Haun’s hair inside the car.

Last week Schaeffer told the jury that chemical tests conducted on the back seat of the Altima after Haun had rented it showed the presence of blood on the rear passenger seat, floorboard, door handle, seat belt and headliner.

On Tuesday, she said it was her opinion that someone had tried to clean up the blood--which matched Sherri Dally’s blood type--based on the stiffness of the floorboard carpet. As a result, she said, it was impossible to determine the amount of blood that had stained the car.

In other scientific testimony, county criminalist James Roberts said he examined the jaw bone of Sherri Dally’s skull and concluded that a knife had cut across it, leaving notched markings and a small piece of a tooth from a serrated knife.

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“That’s the only thing I can locate that it is consistent with,” Roberts told the jury. He described the piece of metal as being less than a millimeter in length and diameter. “It’s very, very tiny.”

Sherri Dally’s best friend, Debbie English, and Haun’s former boyfriend, Chris McGinty, also testified Tuesday.

English testified about conversations she had with Sherri Dally shortly before the mother of two was abducted. She also recalled seeing Michael Dally walk out of a Ventura motel one morning with a woman with long blond hair.

After her friend’s body was found by a search party, English said, she had a conversation with Michael Dally in her home in which he said he had seen photographs of his wife’s remains.

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“He said in his opinion, the body had been moved 10 feet away from where it had been,” English said.

Asked on cross-examination whether she then asked Dally how he reached that conclusion, English said she did not pose the question.

McGinty told the jury that during his six-month relationship with Haun in 1990, the pair rode bikes in the Ojai area--not far from where Dally’s remains were found--and characterized Haun as athletic and strong.

“We had an arm-wrestle competition one time,” he said, “and I nearly lost.”