Pedophile's case taxes jury system
More juries won't solve the difficulties of some cases
Sonny Morper wasn't the least bit daunted when his Orange County jury mates voted him foreman as they prepared to decide whether a convicted pedophile should be released from a state hospital. A retired middle school principal from Lake Forest, Morper, a firm believer in the system, was pulling his first jury duty.
But by the time the jury told the judge last month that it had deadlocked 8 to 4 on whether to release Sidney Landau, Morper had become convinced these kind of cases are best suited for someone other than jurors.
Morper, 64, said the deliberations were respectful and thorough but admits to being troubled by the four votes to set Landau free.
"I think the guy is a danger," he says. "I believe he's a predator likely to re-offend. I believe if he was set loose without someone monitoring him, he's going to pick up where he left off. That's how strong I felt the evidence was."
A jury in 2006 voted 11 to 1 to release Landau from a state mental hospital where's he been since 2000. Last month, Morper's jury voted 8 to 4 to keep him under wraps. The wildly divergent votes suggested to me, as I wrote in a column last week, that this kind of case may be better decided by someone other than jurors. Same guy, same case, I argued -- huge swing in juror opinion.
A forensic psychologist agreed, saying judges experienced in such cases would be a better way to go.
The district attorney's office disagreed, telling me this week that the differing votes reflected a stronger emphasis in the second trial on evidence portraying Landau, even at 68, as a threat to re-offend if released. Jurors in the first trial apparently were influenced by testimony that, at his age and with his medical history, he'd be a much-reduced threat to society, says Orange County Assistant Dist. Atty. Rosanne Froeberg.
Now, after a five-week trial and a few days of deliberations, Morper favors something along the lines of a review board made up of psychiatrists, other medical professionals and social service workers with expertise on pedophiles and their behavioral patterns.
He's contacted an assemblyman to see if the state Legislature could get involved in designing a new way to handle such cases.
Froeberg said that would be problematic, if not impossible, because of the constitutional guarantee of a jury trial.
