Famalaro Jury Selected; Publicity Concerns Defense

SANTA ANA — A jury was seated Wednesday in the long-awaited murder trial of John J. Famalaro, but it’s not one that his attorneys are entirely pleased with.

Nine women and three men were sworn in to decide the fate of the 39-year-old Famalaro, a former house painter who could face the death penalty if convicted of killing Denise Huber of Newport Beach in 1991 and stuffing her body in a freezer.

“It’s a very difficult situation for Mr. Famalaro given that all 12 jurors know something about the case,” said co-defense attorney Leonard Gumlia. “We also would have preferred a better gender balance.”

Among Gumlia’s other concerns: Three of the jurors said in their written questionnaires that they believe Famalaro is guilty, but believe they can set that opinion aside; all of the jurors have heard some kind of remark from co-workers, family or friends about the high-profile case; several in the group said they took extra precautions after Huber’s disappearance such as buying a cellular telephone; and some jurors have expressed sympathy for the victim’s family.

The questionnaires also reveal that three members have had their lives touched by murder: The former husband of one woman killed his sister; another juror’s cousin was beaten to death by her husband with a baseball bat; the son of a third juror’s close friend was murdered.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher Evans declined to comment on the jury, which will receive their instructions today.

Potential jurors underwent six days of rigorous questioning from Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan and attorneys for both sides. They were grilled on their previous knowledge about the case, what type of mitigating circumstances they would be willing to consider if the trial reaches a death penalty phase and whether they believed they could be fair. They also were asked if they would be able to bear gruesome details that might be described in court and be able to look at potentially upsetting photographs.

“I’m not kidding, this could get really heavy,” Evans said to one juror.

Wednesday’s session stretched into an unexpected eight-hour marathon. Only seconds after a 12-member jury and four alternates had been settled upon in the early afternoon, a visibly upset female alternate asked the judge to excuse her.

“This is getting worse as I sit here,” the woman said. “I’m having a very hard time even looking at the defendant.”

Evans said it was “great that [that incident] happened today, even though it inconvenienced everyone. It would be huge bummer if it happened in a month.”

Moments later, a female juror and a second female alternate were excused for unexplained reasons after being called into the judge’s chambers.

Judge Ryan denied Gumlia’s request for additional preemptory challenges, which are used by both sides to excuse jurors. Each side is given 20 preemptory challenges at the start of jury selection. He also apologized to jurors for keeping them so many hours, the last 90 minutes without air conditioning.

Famalaro’s attorneys have said that widespread public knowledge and emotion about the case warranted moving it outside Orange County. Gumlia is expected to renew a previous motion for a change of venue today, contending that the jury pool has been tainted because much of the questioning of potential jurors took place in front of the entire jury pool.

“The judge was extremely fair within the rules he set up,” Gumlia said. “But the framework allowed everyone to know what everyone else thought about the case.”

Jury selection originally had been expected to take as long as three weeks. It began last month with 1,200 people. The unusually large jury pool was ordered because of extensive pretrial publicity in the case.

Huber, 23, was missing for three years and was the focus of an intense and enduring search spearheaded by her parents, Dennis and Ione Huber. Her nude, frozen and handcuffed body was found inside a locked freezer stored in a Ryder rental truck parked in front of Famalaro’s Arizona home in 1994.

Famalaro, a former resident of Orange County, could be sentenced to death if convicted of murder and special circumstances of kidnapping and sexual assault. He has pleaded not guilty.

Evans will present an opening statement this afternoon, then will call Ione Huber to the stand. Also testifying today will be Robert Calvert, the friend who last saw the victim alive and Tammy Brown, Huber’s best friend who found her abandoned car on the freeway after going out to search for her.

Famalaro’s attorneys will postpone their opening statement until the prosecution has finished presenting its case, calling it a tactical decision.

“That does not mean we are not planning a very vigorous defense,” Gumlia said.