Judge Mulls Retrial in Slaying Case Due to Jury

Sentencing for Kirkland O’Hara, convicted in March of second-degree murder, was rescheduled for Oct. 24 to allow a judge time to consider a defense motion for a new trial.

“I’m reluctant to go on with the sentencing without hearing the motion for the new trial because I believe there is good cause,” Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan said Friday.

Defense attorney Joanne Harold wants the verdict invalidated due to juror misconduct. The jury, she said, acted improperly by using a measuring device to re-create the crime scene during deliberations.

“I think the law is clear in that matter,” Harold said. “Whenever a jury brings in something from outside, they taint the process.”

O’Hara murdered his girlfriend, Dawn Hill, 34, after an argument at their Tustin apartment in July 1995. In an apparent suicide attempt, he then turned the gun on himself but survived.