Dally Lawyers in Spotlight as Trial Shifts to the Defense

Burly James Farley strolls across the courtroom like it’s his living room, wearing a calm expression that matches his sober gray suit.

He gingerly sets a thin stack of notes on a podium, but will rarely look at them. At 63, the veteran attorney’s cross-examination is driven more by instinct than preparation.

Now consider co-counsel Robert Schwartz, a wiry, chain-smoking lawyer who strides toward the witness stand with a bulldog intensity.

He has devoured roughly 30,000 pages of transcripts and police reports to prepare for this--his first--capital murder trial. At 45, tough and energetic, he is every bit the yang to his older partner’s yin.

For the last five weeks, Farley and Schwartz have exercised their courtroom skills to poke holes in the prosecution’s case against their client, accused killer Michael Dally.

Starting this week, they will launch their own case aimed at proving the 37-year-old grocery store employee has been wrongly accused of murder, conspiracy and kidnapping in the slaying of his wife, Sherri.

And many in the legal community will be watching to see if the pair can win an acquittal for Ventura County’s most notorious murder defendant in years.

“If there are any two lawyers who could get him acquitted, they are it,” said criminal defense attorney Timothy Quinn, citing Farley’s experience and Schwartz’s tenacity as a formidable combination.

“When people get cross-examined by Bobby, they probably feel like they’ve just been in boxing match--and lost,” he said. “With Jim, they probably feel like they had a nice conversation and don’t even know they’ve been cross-examined.

“Bobby is a technician,” he added. “And Jim brings an identification for his client.”

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In presenting their case, Farley and Schwartz plan to call more than 30 witnesses, including some of the defendant’s relatives, possibly including his 9-year-old son, Devon.

They will also question the former boyfriend of co-defendant Diana Haun, whom Schwartz described in his opening statement as a “psychotic crazy lady” who fatally stabbed Sherri Dally to hold onto her lover, Michael Dally.

Haun was convicted of first-degree murder last fall and sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors say Dally persuaded her to carry out the brutal slaying to spare him the cost of a divorce.

During both trials, the prosecution has described Dally as a philandering, manipulative, wife-hating louse who made no attempts to contain his glee after Sherri Dally disappeared.

The 35-year-old day-care provider was last seen climbing into the back seat of a car in a Target parking lot May 6, 1996. Her stabbed and beaten body was found by a search party in a steep ravine 26 days later.

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Michael Dally’s attorneys say he played no role in his wife’s murder. He was working when she was abducted, and he is not suspected of having wielded the knife or ax that killed her or being with Haun at the time.

In mounting a defense, Farley and Schwartz have pointed to Haun as the sole killer and suggested that the prosecution’s case--based entirely on circumstantial evidence--doesn’t hold up.

Once the prosecution rests its case, the defense plans to make a standard motion for acquittal on the grounds the district attorney failed to present sufficient evidence for a conviction.

If the motion is denied, the lawyers will proceed by calling their first witnesses--a moment they have anticipated for more than a year.

Farley became involved in the murder case in summer 1996, when Dally was called before the Ventura County Grand Jury. Dally was questioned for about 20 minutes before halting the proceedings to ask for a lawyer.

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He found Farley, who became his court-appointed lawyer after Dally was indicted three months later. Because Dally cannot afford to pay for his defense, the county is paying the bills.

When co-counsel Willard Wiksell had to step down several months later to handle another murder trial, Farley tapped Schwartz as his new partner. It is the first case they have worked together.

“Jim is a wonderful lawyer, and I learn a lot by watching him,” Schwartz said. “He has a wonderful demeanor with witnesses. His overall style in court is excellent.”

The feeling is mutual.

“Bobby is a hell of a lawyer and he has youthful exuberance,” Farley said, adding with a chuckle: “I don’t have much exuberance these days.”

For the last three decades, Farley has represented criminal defendants in many of the county’s most high-profile cases. Born and raised in Albany, N.Y., he received his law degree in 1966 from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles. He passed the bar exam a year later.

Farley initially worked in Los Angeles. But while trying a case in Ventura County in 1969, he encountered then-Public Defender Richard Erwin, who was impressed with his courtroom style and offered him a job. Farley accepted without hesitation.

“I would have done anything to get out of L.A.,” he said. “The freeways, the crowds, the smog. . . . I decided, nah. Let me come to a place where life is a little slower.”

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Farley eventually went into private practice and helped create Conflict Defense Associates, a group of lawyers appointed by the court to defend the poor when the public defender’s office has a conflict of interest.

Farley picks up many of his clients through the conflict group. He also practices some labor law, further establishing his reputation--among supporters--as an advocate for the poor and trodden-upon or--among many prosecutors--as a criminal-coddling liberal.

“It’s probably the way I was raised,” Farley said. “Naturally, I am just an anarchist. I just don’t like government.”

George Eskin, a retired criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, has known Farley since he came to Ventura County. He described the lawyer as playing a critical role in the legal community.

“He is a very, very important person in Ventura County as a staunch advocate and reminder to the public that anyone can make an accusation and the government says . . . a person is innocent until proven guilty,” Eskin said.

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“He is a passionate defender of the Constitution, and he opposes arbitrary government intrusion in our lives,” he said. “And I think he tries to advocate that the law school graduates who go to work for district attorneys have no more corner on truth than the law school graduates who go to work in the representation of people who are accused of crimes.”

Farley is a staunch opponent of the death penalty and has handled several cases over the years in which his client’s life hung in the balance. Those cases, he said, never get any easier.

“There is a life at stake. It is no secret anywhere in the county of Ventura that I am opposed to the death penalty and it is one of the reasons I take the capital cases, because I can fight against it,” he said.

Farley ties many of the principles that guide his life to the Roman Catholic Church, which he serves as a deacon. His position allows him to marry, bury, assist at Mass and celebrate Holy Communion. Farley spent four years studying theology before being ordained 19 years ago.

“It helps keep my sanity in a lot of ways,” he said. “It is a tremendous difference from the world of violence that I work in Monday through Friday from 8 to 5.”

Over the years, Farley has been a spiritual advisor for many in the Catholic legal community, including prosecutors and judges.

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“He is the person not only that you call, but that you refer people to,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew Hardy, who calls Farley a “dear friend” as well as the man who baptized his children.

“He has this huge Irish personality,” the prosecutor said. “He kicks our butt more than anyone I know, but he is the first one to come over and put his arm around you and say you did a good job.”

Farley has twice sought a judicial seat and was, in his words, “defeated soundly both times.” He doesn’t plan to run again and said he won’t retire until practicing law is no longer fun.

Farley has been married for 34 years and has two daughters, ages 30 and 24. When he is not in court, he said he enjoys spending time with his family or reading.

“I am one of the world’s worst golfers. I am terrible,” he said when questioned about his hobbies. “I do smoke cigars--that is a hobby.”

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Like his co-counsel, Schwartz came to Ventura County from the East Coast, seeking a warm place and challenging opportunities.

After graduating from Ventura College of Law, Schwartz began working as a clerk for James McNally, now a retired Superior Court judge, and later opened a law practice with attorney Steve Powell. He describes both as mentors.

“I saw [McNally] win some amazing cases,” Schwartz said. “I would try to copy everything he did, but you truly have to be natural in court.”

Working on the Dally case has been a unique challenge for Schwartz. It is his first death penalty case, and he has worked tirelessly to prepare.

“It’s just continuous--literally, four of five hours a night,” he said of his workload. “I just try to get prepared so if a witness says something different than they have said before, I know.”

Quinn has tried a couple of cases with Schwartz and said witnesses don’t have any room to wiggle when he is on cross-examination.

“Bobby is the master at the inconsistent statement or the newly remembered information,” he said. Witnesses “will appear as though they are being untruthful.”

Schwartz’s greatest strengths are his tenacity and his work ethic, colleagues say. And his desire to win is unmatched.

“Bobby is pure competitiveness,” Quinn said, “which basically means he has to know the facts better than anyone in the courtroom. That is probably his strong suit. He will know the facts inside out--and he knows exactly how to use them to create reasonable doubt.

“If lawyers were rated,” he adds, “I would say Bobby is vastly underrated.”

Schwartz has never been married. He enjoys golf and spending free time with his girlfriend. He said is eager to take on more high-profile cases in the future, but has his mind on only one right now.

“It’s a big case,” he said. “The stakes are high.”