Further Appeal Follows Reversal of Murder Conviction

Prosecutors said Monday that they will await the outcome of court appeals before deciding whether to retry a Rancho Santa Margarita woman whose murder conviction was overthrown last week.

The state’s 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that investigators repeatedly ignored Li-Yun “Lisa” Peng’s request for an attorney and continued to grill her for nine hours, then enlisted the help of her husband to elicit incriminating statements from her.

Peng, 49, was sentenced in 1996 to life in prison for the stabbing death of Ranbing “Jennifer” Ji, 25, and the suffocation of Ji’s infant son. Peng’s husband was the father of Ji’s baby.

The lead investigator in the case, Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Ron White, who now heads the homicide unit, declined to comment Monday.

The appellate court said White and other detectives illegally denied Peng her right to an attorney, then recorded a private conversation with her husband, Tseng “Jim” Peng, 56, to use as a key piece of evidence in the trial.

“It was outrageous conduct,” said Marshall Schulman, who represented Taiwanese-born Peng in her trial. “Are police officers immune from the laws of the land?”

After Peng’s conviction in April 1996, San Diego attorney Charles M. Sevilla filed the appeal for her. With the reversal, authorities now have the option of retrying Peng or taking the case to the state Supreme Court.

Tori Richards, a spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney, said prosecutors are consulting with the state attorney general’s office to review the case, but a retrial is unlikely any time soon.

“We don’t automatically retry cases. Retrial is the last resort,” she said.

Peng remains at the California Institution for Women at Frontera. Last week’s court ruling will not be final until Oct. 30, Sevilla said.