Killer Ordered to Pay for Her Defense

VENTURA —  In an unusual legal move, a judge has ordered convicted killer Diana Haun to pay the cost of her own defense: $202,400 racked up by public defenders.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Frederick A. Jones said Monday that he also would consider forcing Haun to reimburse the state for the cost of her life prison sentence.

The 36-year-old grocery clerk was convicted in September of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy for fatally stabbing her lover’s wife.

A 1994 state law now provides for reimbursement by criminal defendants if they are able to pay. But a spokeswoman for the California attorney general’s office said it has never been done.

In Haun’s case, reimbursement is possible because the Port Hueneme woman will collect an annuity worth nearly $1 million over the next 25 years because of an injury she suffered as a teenager.

Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael K. Frawley said his office plans to contact the attorney general’s office and recommend that state prosecutors go after Haun’s annuity to pay for her imprisonment.

“We have a unique situation here where the state will take care of Ms. Haun’s needs for the rest of her life,” Frawley said.

Jones stopped short of demanding that Haun pay the costs of her imprisonment and said he would take up the issue once a brief is filed by the attorney general’s office.

Last month, Jones sentenced Haun to life in prison with no parole, after a jury rejected a possible death sentence.

At sentencing, the judge delayed ruling on questions concerning the payment of restitution to relatives of victim Sherri Dally, as well as the issue of reimbursement of county costs.

Jones held a hearing on those matters Monday, ordering Haun to pay $10,000 to a state fund that aids crime victims. He took under submission the question of whether the murdered woman’s family should also be paid $4,900 for costs associated with the case.

During the hearing, Deputy Public Defender Neil Quinn said he and co-counsel Susan Olson worked at least 2,530 hours at $80 an hour for a total of $202,400.

Prosecutors have no legal means to recover their costs. The district attorney’s office, citing a gag order, has declined to say how much the prosecution has cost.

Haun receives $1,440 a month as a result of a decades-old legal settlement--an amount that increases every five years until she is 61. Jones ruled that she is able to reimburse the county for her defense and ordered her annuity garnished.

“The defendant does have the assets to repay the county of Ventura the cost of her defense,” he said.

The defense bill--without interest--will be spread over the 25 years remaining on Haun’s annuity. Payment would begin Jan. 1 at $360 a month and increase as the annuity grows. By 2022, when the annuity ends, the reimbursement would reach $1,545 a month. The payments would cease with the annuity if Haun dies in prison.

Lawyers for the county counsel and public defender’s office said they could not recall another case in which a defendant was ordered to pay so much.

“It is very unusual,” Assistant County Counsel William Waters said. “They very seldom get reimbursed for what they provide, which is excellent legal representation.”

Quinn said Haun’s case presented an unusual set of circumstances for the public defender’s office, which represents defendants who cannot afford private attorneys.

His client was financially secure because of the annuity, which was set up after she suffered a severe head injury when a basketball backboard fell on her at age 15. But the terms of her annuity did not allow her to draw on future payments, so Haun did not have the money in hand to pay for her defense in a capital murder case, Quinn said.

“You can’t find a qualified capital attorney to take a case on the amount of resources that were actually available at the time . . . $1,400 a month and working at Vons isn’t that much money,” he said.

Upon reviewing Haun’s income and other financial assets, Quinn said, his office determined that she was capable of reimbursement.

“I think it’s fair that she reimburse the county according to her ability to pay,” he said. “The court’s orders are reasonable.”