Caro Seeks New Trial, Alleging Jury Misconduct

The attorney for a Santa Rosa Valley woman convicted last year of murdering her three young sons has requested a new trial based on claims of juror misconduct.

Socorro Caro, 44, faces the death penalty during her sentencing next week. After convicting Caro in November, the same jury recommended that she be executed.

Superior Court Judge Donald D. Coleman will ultimately decide between a death sentence and life in prison for Caro, but first must consider the motion for a new trial, which is standard in such cases. Both matters will be heard Wednesday.

“The jurors in this case committed several acts of misconduct,” according to Deputy Public Defender Jean Farley’s motion.

Additionally, the misconduct was “frequent, mean-spirited, intimidating and designed to foster a framework conducive to a verdict of guilt and death,” states the motion, which was filed last week.

During the trial, Coleman repeatedly ordered jurors not to discuss the case outside court.

Included in Farley’s motion are sworn affidavits from C. Anthony Anderson, a juror who was dismissed during deliberations, and Brian Kehoe, an alternate juror.

Anderson alleges that a fellow juror told him outside the courtroom that defense attorneys “knew their client was guilty” and were “running around” to find evidence to prove Caro was “crazy.”

In his affidavit, Anderson also says he was accused by another juror of holding out against a guilty verdict in order to become famous and “get a date with Ms. Farley.”

Kehoe alleges in his affidavit that jurors repeatedly violated Coleman’s admonishments and that at least one juror “often made disparaging and derogatory comments about defense counsel.” On at least two occasions, the same juror said she wanted to “hit Farley upside her head.”

The improper discussions about the case were so numerous, according to Kehoe’s statement, that he was “unable to recall all of the occasions.”

Neither Farley nor the prosecutor in the case were immediately available for comment.

Caro shot three of her four sons as they slept the night of Nov. 22, 1999, before shooting herself in the head. The youngest son, who was 13 months old, was unharmed.

Prosecutors alleged that Caro was using the boys--11-year-old Joey, 8-year-old Michael and 5-year-old Christopher--to punish her husband, Dr. Xavier Caro, for restricting her funds and planning to divorce her.

Defense attorneys unsuccessfully claimed that Xavier Caro, a Northridge rheumatologist, killed the boys and then shot his wife in the head to make it appear as if she had attempted suicide.