Prosecutors Seek to Have Dally’s Loved Ones Testify

Hoping to convince a jury that convicted killer Diana Haun should be executed for her crimes, prosecutors asked a judge Wednesday to allow the victim’s mother and friends to testify during the upcoming penalty phase of Haun’s trial.

Sherri Dally’s fatal stabbing devastated her friends and family, and they should be allowed to share their feelings with the jury, prosecutors argued.

The killing has also left Dally’s sons, ages 7 and 9, without a mother. And prosecutors have asked Judge Frederick A. Jones to allow the boys’ therapist to testify about the effect her death has had on their young lives.

During Wednesday’s court hearing, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lela Henke-Dobroth told the judge that the prosecution wants to call nine witnesses when the penalty phase begins Oct. 20.

They include Dally’s mother, Karlyne Guess; her niece, Hannah Murray; her two best friends, Debbie English and Kristin Best; as well as the children’s therapist, another psychologist and the Ventura County coroner.

Defense attorneys argued that many of Dally’s relatives and friends have previously testified and further comments would not assist the jury in making its decision.

“In this case, the people have already provided the jury more than a brief glimpse,” Deputy Public Defender Neil Quinn argued.

Prosecutors also want to call the defendant’s former lover Chris McGinty and his ex-wife, Ann. The couple separated at the time of the Haun-McGinty affair.

But after her breakup with McGinty, prosecutors say, Haun followed Ann McGinty, taunted her with hang-up calls and left objects--including a toy duck with a severed head--on her doorstep.

Prosecutors have argued that such evidence parallels the Dally case, in which Haun was also having an affair with a married man and was ultimately convicted of killing his wife.

Jones refused to let the jury hear allegations of Haun’s taunting Ann McGinty during the six-week trial but told lawyers that he would reconsider if the case reached the penalty phase, during which Haun’s character would be a central issue.

Discussions of the so-called McGinty evidence were closed to the public Wednesday. Jones has not yet ruled on many of the other matters, and the hearing is scheduled to continue today.

The judge did decide, however, that Ventura County Medical Examiner Ronald O’Halloran would not be permitted to testify.

Prosecutors wanted the coroner to describe the pain and suffering Dally underwent during the fatal attack. But defense attorneys argued that such evidence should not be allowed because it would be based purely on speculation, and the judge agreed.

Jones denied a defense request to suppress the testimony of some witnesses on grounds that the prosecution failed to inform the defense in a timely manner of whom they planned to call as witnesses.

During a trial’s penalty phase, the defense is allowed to present evidence about the defendant’s good character and the prosecution is allowed to counter with testimony to the contrary.

Haun, a 36-year-old grocery clerk from Port Hueneme, faces a possible death sentence after being convicted of first-degree murder last month for killing the wife of her lover, Michael Dally.

The trial includes a penalty phase because the jury found the allegation that Haun killed for financial gain to be true. Combined with a first-degree murder conviction, the allegation qualifies her for execution.

After the penalty phase, the jury will make a sentencing recommendation to the judge, and he will decide what punishment should be imposed.

Dally was stabbed and beaten to death May 6, 1996, and her body tossed in a remote ravine north of Ventura. Prosecutors said Haun abducted Dally from the parking lot of a discount store and killed her inside a rental car.

In addition to murder, Haun was convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy for plotting the murder, allegedly with Michael Dally.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys are scheduled to meet in court Friday to discuss his trial date. Dally is facing the same criminal charges. Prosecutors want to begin the case immediately after Haun’s penalty phase concludes.