Famalaro Jury Pool Slims as Judge Orders Tight Lips

SANTA ANA —  Dozens more potential jurors were excused Monday from a jury pool in the murder trial of John J. Famalaro, a former house painter accused of killing a 23-year-old woman and storing her body in a freezer for three years.

The reasons for dismissal varied: Some overheard fellow jury pool members talk about the case in the court hallway; some said family members and co-workers blurted out unsolicited opinions about the case; others steadfastly oppose the death penalty and some said they already had a firm opinion about the case.

Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan had ordered that the jury pool avoid talking or reading about the high-profile case. But as the questioning phase of jury selection began, several people explained how they had somehow been tainted since first reporting to jury duty earlier this month.

One woman told the judge that after co-workers discovered the criminal case for which she was being considered a juror, several of them offered negative opinions about Famalaro and began discussing details of the case that she had not previously known.

“I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, this is not for my ears,’ ” she said.

Famalaro, 39, is charged with killing Denise Huber of Newport Beach and faces the death penalty if convicted of the murder and special circumstances of kidnapping and sexual assault. He has pleaded not guilty.

Huber disappeared after her car broke down on the Corona del Mar Freeway in June 1991. Famalaro was arrested three years later after authorities found Huber’s body in a freezer in a stolen rental truck parked in the driveway of Famalaro’s home in Dewey, Ariz.

Because of the large amount of pretrial publicity, an unusually large number of potential jurors were called in for the jury selection process.

This has resulted in hundreds of people being herded into the 11th floor corridor of Orange County Superior Court for extended periods as they wait to be called inside the courtroom. It was these crowded conditions that led to several people overhearing negative remarks being made by others in the group both inside and outside the courtroom, including one man who loudly referred to Famalaro as a “piece of scum.”

“I hate keeping jurors in hallways,” Ryan said. “All it does is create problems.”

After hearing about several incidents of negative remarks, Ryan ordered the entire group to report anyone heard discussing the case.

“The snitch rule is in effect,” the judge said.

Earlier in the day, some potential jurors were excused because of their unwavering anti-death penalty stances.

Among them was a Catholic priest. He stated that he was emphatically against capital punishment except in the most drastic of cases and said the prosecution would have to “go through gyrations” to convince him otherwise.

“Someone would have to throw an atomic bomb,” he said shortly before being excused by the judge.

Others were eliminated after saying that they did not believe they could be fair because of their strong feelings about the case.

“It would be very hard because the evidence just seems to point to” Famalaro, one woman said.

The jury pool, which began earlier this month with 1,200 people, has been reduced to fewer than 200.

The remaining jurors were questioned about their thoughts on murder and sex crimes and on their ability to evaluate graphic evidence and not form an opinion before all evidence is presented.

The jury selection process continues today and is expected to take at least two weeks or longer.