Jurors Visit Alleged Crime Scenes

VENTURA — While the jurors who will decide murder defendant Diana Haun’s fate walked through the spot where she allegedly kidnapped a Ventura homemaker, Haun casually stood nearby and watched, talking amicably with her two guards and occasionally flashing a big smile.

It was all part of a daylong tour on Friday during which the jurors were shown the last place that Sherri Dally was seen alive, and then given a tour of what prosecutors argue was the trail her kidnapper took on the day the Ventura homemaker was killed.

The 12 jurors and six alternates took seven hours to make the 70-mile trip through four Ventura County cities.

The tour--called a ‘jury view’--caps a month of arguments made by the prosecution in the sensational trial.

If convicted, Haun, a former Vons deli counter clerk, could face the death penalty.

Because the trip is part of the trial and a criminal defendant is entitled to attend all phases of the proceedings, Haun went along.

She was guarded at all times by two sheriff’s deputies, and rode in a patrol car instead of the tour bus with the jurors.

Jurors spent more than a half hour at the Ventura Target store parking lot, where witnesses described Dally being handcuffed by a blond woman and forced into a waiting car on May 6, 1996.

The teal-blue Nissan Altima--which prosecutors say was used to kidnap Dally--was parked next to her white van, just as witnesses described the scene on the day of the kidnapping.

Jurors got into the Nissan and looked at the scene from the spots where witnesses said they saw the kidnapping transpire.

One juror sat in the back of the car with his hands clasped behind his back as if he were handcuffed.

He then kicked out his feet as if he were trying to envision how someone could try to defend himself.

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Haun stood a few feet away talking to her guards.

Shoppers at the store stood almost dumbfounded watching the jurors, judge, attorneys and Haun.

“Is that her?” a few said, pointing at Haun.

The parking lot was cordoned off with yellow police tape and evidence markers dotted the lot, noting where witnesses said they saw Dally being taken away.

Linda Ojida and her 11-year-old son Joey followed the caravan of unmarked cars and the jurors’ tour bus from the Dally home to the Target parking lot.

Ojida, who said she grew up with Dally’s husband, Michael, who is also charged with murder and conspiracy in his wife’s slaying, was at the Target store out of curiosity.

She said she was caught up in the story of Haun and Michael Dally’s adulterous affair and the allegations that the couple plotted to kill his wife.

“It’s just a really strange thing to have happen here to someone that you know,” she said. “And then to have all this and her [Haun] out here too.”

For nearly a month, the jurors have been cooped up in a courtroom listening to a long list of prosecution witnesses.

Friday’s trip was an attempt by prosecutors to give jurors a palpable understanding of the case, as they wrap up their side.

Superior Court Judge Frederick A. Jones, attorneys from both sides, the bailiff and the court reporter were also along on the ride.

At one point, the clerk began typing up a conversation among Jones, prosecutor Lela Henke-Dobroth and Deputy Public Defender Neil Quinn.

District attorney’s investigator Richard Haas gave brief explanations of the scenes while the jurors sometimes furiously scribbled notes in their legal pads.

Members of the public and the press were kept at a distance from the jurors to prevent any potential jury contamination.

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Jurors also visited Sherri Dally’s home, then drove by the elementary school where she dropped off her young sons, Max and Devon, on the day she died.

Jurors were later taken to the remote canyon where Dally’s scattered remains were found 26 days after she disappeared.

The canyon, located off Canada Larga Road north of Ventura, was dotted with markers that noted where Dally’s bones were found by a search team.

Late in the day, Haun had a bittersweet return to the home where she lived with her elderly mother, Kiku.

The stop was brief and she never entered the house. As she crossed the street with deputies on either side of her, Haun looked over her shoulder at the home.

The trial is scheduled to continue Tuesday.