Frustrated Jury Deadlocks on Sentence for Man Who Killed Kids

A frustrated jury of 10 men and two women was unable to decide Tuesday whether a Yorba Linda man should be executed or sentenced to life in prison for murdering his two young children following a separation from his wife.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Francisco P. Briseno was forced to declare a mistrial after the panel told him it was hopelessly deadlocked, unable to break an 11-1 stalemate in favor of recommending the death penalty for David Von Haden, 37.

Last month, the same jury quickly found Von Haden guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the Feb. 22, 1996, suffocation of his son, Cody, 4, and daughter Courtney, 2, before shooting himself in a failed suicide attempt. That verdict had been reached in less than an hour, a dramatic contrast to the deadlock declared after three painstaking and emotional days of deliberations.

The prosecution had contended during the trial that the defendant had killed the children to exact revenge on his former wife for leaving him and becoming involved with another man. But defense attorneys insisted that the killings were not about revenge, but the pain Von Haden felt after learning his marriage was destroyed.

Jurors said they were not swayed by the defense argument. Many said that they too had experienced painful divorces in which children were involved, but the thought of hurting their own children never crossed their minds.

“He killed the little ones who trusted him more than anyone,” one ashen-faced juror said angrily outside of court.

Another juror, Larry Wilkes, 56, of Buena Park, said, “There is nothing that mitigates him killing two children. Nothing at all.”

Scott Linden said he tried many times during the trial to put himself in Von Haden’s place. Linden is a father of four and went through what he described as a “brutal” divorce. But he could not understand how Von Haden took out his own frustration on his children.

“It kept me awake at night, many nights,” the 32-year-old Linden said.

Juror Randy Harold, 42, wiped tears from his face while he explained that he often thought of his own children during the trial because two of his four children are the same age as the victims.

“I’m very upset about this verdict,” Harold said.

The frustration felt by many of the jurors was evident when Judge Briseno asked them whether there was any point to continuing deliberations. Many sighed, while others shook their heads sadly as they responded “No.”

Once outside the courtroom, one female juror ran into the elevator, sobbing. Others simply stood in the corridor looking stunned, some wiped away tears and others were visibly angry, refusing to talk to defense attorneys and apologizing to the prosecutor for their failure to reach a verdict.

Von Haden showed little reaction as the deadlock was announced. Deputy Public Defender Michael P. Giannini later said the defendant “was just glad a juror was thinking of him as a human being.”

Giannini said the deadlock illustrates the difficulty jurors face when deciding whether to condemn someone to death for an intra-familial murder.

This is the second time this year that an Orange County jury has been unable to recommend execution for someone convicted of killing family members.

Another jury deadlocked in January during the penalty phase in the trial of Edward Charles III, already convicted of killing his parents and brother. Prosecutors in that case announced last month that they would move forward with an unprecedented fourth penalty phase. Two juries in the Charles case have deadlocked 11 to 1 in favor of death and a third death verdict was later thrown out because of jury misconduct.

There are currently no Orange County defendants on California’s death row who were convicted of killing family members, according to the state attorney general’s office.

“It’s nice to know that death isn’t running rampant in Orange County,” Giannini said outside of court. “I think jurors sense there is something different about these cases even though the D.A.’s office doesn’t seem to think so. There are incredible passions and tensions that develop in a family.”

The lone male juror who voted against the death penalty left the courthouse without speaking to anyone. Jurors said the holdout believed strongly that Von Haden had lived a good life up until the murders, and that should count for something.

Other jurors felt similarly during the early stages of deliberations, voting 4-8 in favor of life in prison. But juror Kirk Chapman, 47, said “it was the heinousness of a father killing his own children” that later led to a near unanimous vote.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Carolyn Kirkwood said a decision about whether to retry the penalty phase will be made in the coming weeks

“We’ll review everything and consider our options,” Kirkwood said.

The mother of the murdered children, Laurie Liem, calmly left court declining to comment, her eyes welled with tears. Pregnant with her second child by her new husband, Rick Liem, she was accompanied by Liem and her parents.

Deputy Public Defender Jean Wilkinson, who also represented Von Haden, said that if the penalty phase is held again, the defense will work even harder to convince a jury of their client’s worth.

Though barely able to speak through her tears, the defendant’s mother, Helen Von Haden, was relieved that even one person on the jury paid attention to the message she and her family tried to convey during the trial.

“It wasn’t David. He was a good boy and a good son. I think now he might have a chance,” she said.

Von Haden’s brother, Dwight, 34, said he was also pleased by the mistrial.

“I’m just glad it’s done for now. Of course it’s never going to really be over. Someday we hope to put this to rest,” he said.