Jury Selection Wraps Up in Dally Trial

Jury selection in the trial of accused murderer Michael Dally concluded Monday as prosecutors and defense attorneys picked 12 regular and six alternate jurors to serve on the high-profile Ventura County case.

The jury, which is dominated by men, will be bused to the Ventura courthouse starting next week for what is expected to be a lengthy trial. Opening statements are set for next Monday.

For the last month, prosecutors and defense attorneys have questioned about 220 prospective jurors about their views on the death penalty and ability to serve on a trial expected to last six to eight weeks.

On Monday, they quickly moved through a list of 80 remaining jury candidates and settled on a panel composed of nine men and three women. They also selected six alternates: four men and two women.

The predominantly male jury could be a benefit for the defense, legal experts say, as Dally’s attorneys take on the prosecution’s theory that he was a manipulative womanizer who convinced his girlfriend to kill his wife.

“It all goes on stereotypes, but it seems like it is the strategy of the defense that men are more likely to side with the defendant,” said Laurie Levenson, associate dean at Loyola Law School.

Dally, 37, is charged with murder, kidnapping and conspiracy for allegedly plotting his wife’s slaying with his lover, Diana Haun. She was found guilty of murder last year and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

During her trial, prosecutors argued that Dally was an “immoral jerk” who wanted out of his marriage and conspired in an elaborate murder scheme to avoid a costly divorce.

As in Haun’s trial, a jury was picked from Santa Barbara County because of pretrial publicity in Ventura County surrounding Sherri Dally’s disappearance and the criminal court proceedings that followed.