Distraught Alternate Named to Stalker Jury : Judge Will Rule on Request to Poll Panel on Ability to Go On After Murder of One Member

By EDWIN CHEN

Aug. 16, 1989 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Amid extraordinary courtroom drama Tuesday, a weeping and emotionally distraught woman alternate was randomly picked to replace a murdered juror in the Night Stalker case.

But the woman’s selection to fill the seat vacated by the weekend slaying of Phyllis Y. Singletary did not dispel the possibility of a mistrial in the serial murder case.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael A. Tynan said he would rule this morning on a defense request to ask each of the remaining 12 jurors and seven alternates whether they can overcome the “terrible tragedy” and continue deliberating the fate of defendant Richard Ramirez, who could be sentenced to death if convicted.

“I will determine at that time if you can resume deliberations,” Tynan told jurors and alternates as many of them wept openly.

“I think you can,” the judge added. “I don’t mean to be callous, but we have business to do.”

Singletary, 30, an employee in the Tustin billing department of Pacific Bell, was found Monday afternoon lying face down in her Carson apartment. She had been shot twice in the chest.

The suspected murderer, James C. Melton, 51, Singletary’s live-in boyfriend, killed himself with a bullet to the head Tuesday morning as police closed in on him at a Carson motel. A note he left said the murder-suicide stemmed from a domestic dispute, sheriff’s deputies said.

Outside court Tuesday, Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Phil Halpin said he opposed questioning the jurors, saying Tynan should direct the jury to resume deliberations today.

“I’m not sure that’s necessary, or a good idea,” Halpin said about questioning jurors.

The prosecutor also warned that any questioning of jurors and alternates may have the unintended effect of eliciting their undue impulses to be excused.

“The circumstances of (Singletary’s) death, while apparently a homicide, have nothing to do with our task here,” he said. “It appeared to be a domestic problem. Hopefully, the jury will be able to distinguish between those issues.”

Still, if fewer than 12 of the 19 jurors and alternates say they can continue, then a mistrial might be inevitable, both sides conceded.

“That’s an issue we’re going to have to deal with,” Halpin said.

In court Tuesday, the new juror--obviously distraught over Singletary’s death--seemed immobilized and racked by convulsion as court clerk Josephine Williams called her name, after drawing it randomly from a gray metal box.

The woman was unable to rise and take her new place in the jury box; Tynan urged her to remain seated.

Tells of Shooting Deaths

During the six-month jury selection process that preceded the actual trial, the new panelist told the court that two of her brothers-in-law had been shot to death in Los Angeles. She gave few details, but oe was killed during a robbery; the other’s body was found near Dodger Stadium.

The new juror also said she had been burglarized twice, in 1987 and 1988. “Everything” was taken, she said.

At the time, neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys objected to her serving on the jury.

Also still on the panel of alternates is a rape victim.

News of Singletary’s murder clearly shattered many jurors and alternates, many of whom arrived at the courthouse with grim expressions. Just before court convened, an alternate screamed and wept hysterically in the hall upon learning of the death, apparently from a fellow alternate. She was escorted by jury colleagues into a restroom.

Assembled moments later in court, several other jurors and alternates sobbed as a subdued Tynan officially broke the news, his voice cracking at times.

“Your friend and fellow juror has been shot,” Tynan said, haltingly, his own eyes misting. “I think there is a tear in the eyes of a lot of us.

“But that has nothing to do with this case. It is simply irrelevant to this case . . . and does not add or diminish to the evidence of whether Mr. Ramirez is guilty or innocent.”

After the brief morning session, Tynan sent jurors home out of “decency” and ordered them back this morning.

“I know your grief is profound,” the judge said. “Your grief must remain private.”

Tynan said he would also grant the panelists a day off to attend a funeral for Singletary.

“I feel very sorry for all of you, and especially sorry for Ms. Singletary,” Tynan said. “God bless all of you.”

Outside court, Daniel V. Hernandez, the chief attorney for Ramirez, said he may ask for a mistrial today, a move that Halpin said he would oppose.

Calls for a Steady Hand

“What is needed now, above all, is a steady hand,” Halpin said. “The murder of this lady has nothing to do with the task of this jury. The case must not go down the drain. I’m here to see that it does not.

“There are many things that can cause a mistrial,” the prosecutor said in a message that seemed intended for Tynan. “This should not be one of them. The parties involved must think about it. They must not take bad advice, and we must do it not only within the law but with some reasonable intelligence.

“I’m sure this does not help the jurors psychologically. But the death and the circumstances of her death have to be separated. I don’t doubt that the other jurors and she became friendly over this period of time.”

Should the attorneys be allowed to question the panelists today, said Ray G. Clark, Ramirez’s second attorney, “I would ask them individually about their relationship (to Singletary), what bonding has taken place and whether or not they feel they are able to proceed.”

The lawyer added: “It’s an emotional thing that’s gotten to all of us, not just the jury. And I’d like to hear from them. . . . This is unprecedented so far as I know, where one of the jurors fell victim to the same sort of acts that many of the victims in the main case did.”

Ramirez, 29, a drifter from El Paso, is a charged with 13 murders and 30 other felonies in a terrifying spree of residential burglaries throughout Los Angeles County, mostly in the spring and summer of 1985. He is also suspected of attempted murder and rape in a 1985 attack on a Mission Viejo couple. The man was shot three times in the head; his fiancee, who was awakened by gunfire, was raped.

Clark said Ramirez did not comment to him about Singletary’s murder, adding: “He’s like the rest of us. Nobody is happy about this. This is a very sad thing. He’s a human being, too.”

Condition of Juror Noted

Hernandez pointed out the inability of the newly chosen juror to take her new seat after being called: “That should have been a signal to the judge and to everyone there that this person is very affected emotionally, that there are certainly some potential problems with the jury at this point that require further inquiries, more investigations by the judge and the lawyers to determine exactly what is going on in their minds and in their hearts, so we can determine whether they can continue to deliberate and to guarantee Mr. Ramirez a fair trial.

“Nobody wants a mistrial. It’s a very good jury. We love this jury. But if there are grounds that have to be researched and looked at that merit a mistrial--because their objectivity has been destroyed--we have an obligation and a responsibility to bring forth that motion.”

Speaking of the jurors, Hernandez added:

“Now we have a situation where they have all experienced something very similar to the crimes that Mr. Ramirez has been charged with--the murder of a friend . . . gunshots . . . beating. Very similar to some of the crimes that were described by testimony. I think there are some very serious reservations here as to whether they can remain objective.”

TEST FOR SYSTEM--Legal experts and psychologists say slaying poses an extreme test of the American judicial system. Page 3