Vista

The murder-for-hire trial for Laura Troiani, scheduled to begin Monday in Vista Superior Court, has been delayed by order of the state Supreme Court until the high court can decide whether North County’s existing pool of jurors is inherently unfair because it does not accurately reflect the ethnic balance of the entire county.

That issue has been raised by attorneys in a case unrelated to the Troiani trial but who contend that juries in North County should be filled by residents of the entire county, rather than just from North County alone, as is currently the practice. They argue that the result would be a greater number of blacks on North County juries.

Supreme Court justices, acting at the request of Troiani’s attorney, agreed to postpone the start of her trial until they resolve the jury issue.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Phil Walden said it was unclear whether the delay would put back the start of Troiani’s trial by days, weeks or months.

Troiani is accused of hiring five Marines for $500 each to murder her husband. Carlo Troiani was found shot to death on a rural Oceanside road in August, 1984.