D.A.’s Comments Lead to Mistrial in S.F. Slaying Case

SAN FRANCISCO —  Comments by the district attorney about the prosecution of four men accused of killing a convicted crime boss tainted the jury pool, a judge said in declaring a mistrial.

Defense attorneys argued that Dist. Atty. Terence Hallinan’s comments made it impossible for their clients to get a fair trial.

Judge William Cahill agreed, declaring a mistrial Wednesday. Twelve jurors had been seated, and attorneys were preparing to pick several alternates.

“I’m going to grant a motion for a mistrial, vacate the jury panel and impose sanctions on the district attorney’s office,” Cahill said.

The judge also ordered Hallinan’s office to pay all costs incurred by defense attorneys since jury selection began in October.

Hallinan declined comment after Cahill’s ruling.

Kwon Tse, Man Leung Yu, Reagan Huang and alleged gunman Lam Choi are accused in the slaying of Cuong Tran in 1996.

In published comments Monday, Hallinan linked the four to the murder of San Francisco lawyer Dennis Natali, which occurred just minutes earlier. Hallinan and Natali were close friends.

“I believe the same people were involved in both of them, but we haven’t been able to prove it,” Hallinan said.

The judge last week told jurors there was no proof that the two cases were connected and ordered them not to consider the possibility.

Defense attorney Bill Fazio, who lost to Hallinan in the 1995 election for district attorney, argued that Hallinan’s statements were either intentional or grossly negligent.

“Hallinan is preventing our clients from getting a fair trial,” he said.

The judge apologized to the seated and prospective jurors before dismissing them.

“So much has gone wrong in the past couple of weeks,” Cahill said. “We’re all embarrassed by how much we’ve inconvenienced you.”

Tran and Natali were killed Nov. 15, 1996, eight minutes and 16 blocks apart.

Tran was gunned down after he left a bar, and Natali was shot in the back while behind the wheel of his car.

The two cases were investigated together because of the possible ties between Natali and Tran. Tran’s brother, Quinn Tran, told a grand jury last year that Natali was Cuong Tran’s protector, but not formally his attorney.