Killer’s Jury Deadlocks on Death

A second jury has deadlocked on whether a man convicted of murdering three hospital employees in a 1999 Anaheim shooting rampage should be put to death.

Jurors deliberated for a week before voting 11 to 1 Wednesday in favor of the death penalty for Dung D. Trinh, who has dared jurors to give him the death penalty for his actions. Orange County Superior Court Judge John Ryan declared a mistrial in the penalty phase of the case.

In September, the first jury deadlocked 10 to 2 in favor of life in prison without parole, with many jurors concluding Trinh did not deserve death because he was emotionally distraught.

The outcome leaves Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas with the choice of trying a third time to win a death sentence or agreeing to impose life in prison.

The shooting rampage prompted Rackauckas three years ago to declare that his office would seek the death penalty in all cases that involve random, multiple killings.

Rackauckas on Wednesday declined to reveal his next move, but he reaffirmed his view that execution is an appropriate punishment for mass killings. He also said there was no reason to review his office’s policy on the matter.

“Because of the nature of the case ... the random shooting of people who were vulnerable and in a hospital, I believe the death penalty is the right punishment here,” he said.

“I’ve thought about this a lot since it happened, and I still feel strongly that it’s the right policy.”

The killings occurred Sept. 14, 1999, when Trinh armed himself with a pair of revolvers and walked into West Anaheim Medical Center seeking vengeance for the death of his mother hours earlier.

Trinh, 46, was convicted on three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder after just three hours of deliberations. The defendant, who blamed the hospital for his mother’s death, took the stand during the first penalty phase and pleaded for the death penalty.

“I dare all of you to send me to death,” said the heavily tattooed Trinh. “I deserve it. I not only deserve it, I need it. I want it.”

Despite Trinh’s urging, jurors have found it difficult to agree on an appropriate punishment.

“The fact that a defendant says, ‘Put me to death’ doesn’t necessarily cause jurors to want to do it,” Rackauckas said. “Jurors consider death very seriously, and they need to be very strongly convinced.”

Trinh, who was videotaped as he calmly fired and reloaded, believed his 72-year-old mother died because workers at the hospital had botched her care. Defense lawyers did not deny that Trinh killed hospital maintenance director Ronald Robertson, 50, nurse’s aide Marlene Mustaffa, 60, and pharmacist Vincent Rosetti, 50.

But they argued that the shooter was suffering emotional and physical breakdowns at the time.

Trinh’s mother died at another hospital on the morning of the shootings but had had her hip replaced at West Anaheim.

Since 1985, the Orange County district attorney’s office has prosecuted 340 murder cases with “special circumstances,” under which death is a potential penalty. The office has sought the death penalty in 90 of those cases, or 26%.

In all, 49 convicted killers face the death penalty in Orange County, and all of those cases are in various stages of appeal.

Rackauckas must decide by Dec. 19 whether to continue seeking the death penalty.