Asian Boyz Case Ends in Mistrial

Van Nuys jurors could not agree Wednesday on whether four Asian Boyz street gang members deserve to die for a 1995 killing spree, leaving uncertain whether prosecutors will seek to retry them or settle for life in prison without parole.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp declared a mistrial after Van Nuys jurors split evenly on two defendants, deadlocked in favor of life in prison without parole for a third and deadlocked in favor of death for the man authorities say was the gang’s leader.

The defendants will be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole next month unless prosecutors try to retry the death question.

Defense attorneys, saying a retrial is highly unlikely, claimed victory.

“I feel like I’ve been reborn,” said attorney Jack Stone. He had argued that his client, Roatha Buth, should be spared the death penalty because he suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome from living as a young child through the Cambodian killing fields, when thousands died by execution or starvation after a brutal regime emptied the cities and forced thousands to work camps. The jury split equally on Buth.

Deputy Dist. Attys. Laura Baird and Hoon Chun said the jury’s decision does not change their belief the defendants deserve the death penalty for their crimes--a total of six slayings.

“They’re responsible for so many victims. There was no reason for it, and they took great pride in it,” said Baird, who has been working on the case since 1996. “They enjoyed killing.”

Jurors told the attorneys they were most affected by the youth of the defendants and the number of people they killed. Some said the Cambodian experience also made them sympathize with some of the defendants, but said they didn’t believe it excused murder.

The jurors also struggled with the fact that the case against the defendants was based on the testimony of fellow gang members who also participated in the shootings. Both of those witnesses were given immunity in exchange for their testimony.

The prosecution’s key witness testified despite knowing that his elderly father had been slain at his San Jose home the day before. Authorities say the killing was most likely in retaliation for Truong Dihn’s testimony--they found his father’s address in the jail-issue prayer book of one of the defendants--but no one has been charged in the crime.

Jurors were not told of the slaying.

After that death, armed guards began protecting the prosecutors and judge around the clock. Security concerns also prohibited Dihn from attending his father’s funeral, prosecutors said.

Because the issues would be the same in any retrial, and because prosecutors would be forced to put on almost the entire case again, defense lawyers said they believe the case has been decided.

The other three defendants whose fate jurors could not agree on were Son Thanh Bui, Sothi Menh and Bunthoeun Roeung.

Roeung’s lawyer said his client was as pleased as anyone could be knowing he will never leave prison alive.

“It’s more than a victory, it’s appropriate,” Stephen Sitkoff said. “It’s what should have happened from the beginning.”

But Jennifer Gregory, whose husband authorities alleged had been killed by the gang during a botched home-invasion robbery, strongly disagreed. That slaying and another shooting were revealed to the jury during the penalty phase as part of the prosecution’s argument for death.

After hearing that jurors had returned verdicts after only 2 1/2 days of deliberations, Gregory said she was sure the result would be death. But when it became clear the jury could not agree, she and her relatives let out a gasp.

“It made me so mad inside I just wanted to scream in court,” Gregory said. “I suffer every day knowing I’m never going to have my husband again and looking at my kids and knowing they’re never going to see their daddy.”

“I feel these people have no conscience whatsoever. I feel they do deserve to die,” she added. “And then to see the smiles on their faces, like they felt they got away with it or something.”

Last month the jury convicted seven members of the gang for their parts in the series of shootings. The panel found various members of the gang responsible for deadly ambushes of rival Asian and Latino gang members.

Schempp has already sentenced the three other defendants who were not eligible for death to essentially a lifetime in prison.

In the hallway after court, members of Buth’s family said they were relieved the worst had not come.

“I just hoped for the best” during the trial, said Lakina Westphal, Buth’s sister, who had testified to the horrors of life in Cambodia under the communist Pol Pot regime in the 1970s. “I don’t know how I react. I still need to take it all in.”