Jury Urges Death Sentence for Killer of Highway Patrol Officer

Less than an hour after an unapologetic Hung Thanh Mai testified that he deserved “the maximum penalty” for the brutal murder of a highway patrolman, an Orange County jury on Wednesday agreed and recommended a death sentence for the convicted gang member.

“I am not here to ask or beg for your sympathy or pity,” Mai, 29, had told jurors earlier in the day as the sole witness in his defense. “I’m not here to ask you to spare my life even. Personally, I believe in an eye for an eye. I believe in two eyes for an eye. If you take down one of my fellows, I’d do everything to take down two of yours.”

Family members and friends of slain California Highway Patrol Officer Don J. Burt Jr. choked back their emotions as the clerk read the verdict.

Mai had punctuated the weeklong penalty phase of his trial with violent outbursts, but sat quietly, with his head bowed, as the sentencing recommendation was announced.

“There is really no vindication, justification or closure,” Burt’s mother, Jeannie, said afterward. “Our son is gone. We’ll never be able to hold him or kiss him.”

Burt’s parents said they did not harbor hatred for their son’s killer, despite Mai’s lack of remorse. Last week, Mai turned to the family during the sentencing hearing and coldly told them, “I’d do it again.”

“It’s another life that is wasted in this whole thing,” said Burt’s father, retired CHP Sgt. Don Burt Sr. “It’s a tragedy. I wish [Mai] had thought about that. . . . As a victim there is no justice. As a human being, there is hope--hope that no one else will be hurt by him.”

Burt’s widow, Kristin, said Mai tried to arrange a private meeting with the Burts on Wednesday in an apparent attempt to express remorse. They were not moved, and declined Mai’s offer.

“He’s not remorseful for one thing. He has nothing to say that is worthy of my ears,” said Kristin Burt, 32, who was seven months pregnant when her husband was killed. “To one day say ‘I’d do it again,’ and then to say he wants to show remorse, only shows how twisted he is.”

Mai shot Burt seven times in a Fullerton parking lot after a routine traffic stop four years ago. The patrolman allegedly found counterfeit traveler’s checks in the trunk of Mai’s BMW. But before the 25-year-old rookie officer could confront the suspect, the slightly built Mai came out of the car shooting a 9-millimeter semiautomatic weapon, authorities said. As Burt lay bleeding on the asphalt, Mai delivered a final shot to the patrolman’s head.

Mai admitted the murder and was convicted last July as part of a deal with federal prosecutors, who had charged him with dealing weapons and ordering a murder for hire while in jail awaiting trial. He is serving a 25-year sentence for those federal crimes.

Mai’s erratic courtroom behavior during the penalty phase at times overshadowed the somber proceedings. On Monday, Mai had to be restrained by seven deputies as he exploded in a profanity-laced tirade and toppled the defense table. He told one witness he should have killed him when he had a chance.

On Wednesday, Mai, shackled at the waist and ankles, lumbered toward the witness stand. He said he barred his attorneys from delivering a closing argument on his behalf.

“There’s a price to pay for everything in life,” Mai told jurors, many watching him with deadpan faces. “Now that I’m here, it’s time to pay that price. It’s part of the game.”

Mai’s comments sent Kristin Burt storming out of the courtroom in tears.

“When he said that, that’s what set me off,” she later said. “This is not a game. Not a game I’m willing to play.”

Defense attorney George Peters said Mai’s testimony was his own way of setting things right.

“Oddly, this is one of the rare cases where the defendant wanted to do the right thing,” Peters said. “The techniques he used were unusual, but he was willing to get up and tell the jury what the fair penalty is. . . . He’s a very complicated person.”

Assistant Dist. Atty. Mike Jacobs said he was not moved by Mai’s testimony.

“I sat there and I thought, ‘OK. He agrees with me,’ ” Jacobs said. “Mr. Mai is extremely intelligent and a very dangerous individual.”

Shortly after the verdict, the jurors were whisked out of the Santa Ana courtroom. A few of them later returned to exchange tearful hugs with members of Burt’s family.

“Thank you,” Burt’s father told one juror. “I’m sorry you had to go through this.”

A juror who declined to be identified said Mai’s courtroom behavior had little bearing on the panel’s ultimate decision.

“It was the overwhelming evidence,” he said.

Mai’s formal sentencing is scheduled for June 23. Even if Superior Court Judge Richard L. Weatherspoon lets the verdict stand, Mai’s execution is by no means certain. Death sentences are automatically appealed to the California Supreme Court.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Marc Greenberg, who prosecuted Mai on the federal charges, said Mai will be transferred to the maximum security federal prison in Florence, Colo., after the state sentencing. If his execution date precedes the completion of his federal sentence, the state’s penalty will prevail.

“What cannot be forgotten here is Donnie Burt,” Greenberg said. “He was a hero. He gave up his life so others wouldn’t have to. Undoubtedly, Mai would have killed someone. It was a matter of who and when.”

Greenberg said that at the request of Burt’s father, he wrote a letter to the young son of the slain officer to describe the CHP officer’s brave sacrifice. The boy was born two months after the murder

“It was probably one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do,” Greenberg said.

*

Times staff writer David Haldane contributed to this story.