Juror Dismissed in Ng Penalty Phase

In the latest twist in the long-running case of convicted killer Charles Ng, an Orange County judge on Wednesday dismissed a juror and charged an investigator with “prosecutorial misconduct” for talking to the panelist outside the courtroom.

Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan put one of the three remaining alternates on the jury, which is deciding whether Ng should get the death penalty.

Exactly why the juror was dismissed and the full extent of the investigator’s conversations with her remain unclear. Ryan announced his decision in a brief statement.

Ng, 38, was convicted in February of killing 11 people, including two toddlers, in Calaveras County 14 years ago.

Authorities say Ng and his friend Leonard Lake lured their victims to Lake’s secluded cabin and killed them for financial gain and sexual gratification. Lake killed himself shortly after being arrested. The case was transferred to Orange County in 1994 because of pretrial publicity in Northern California.

The trial resumed Monday after a recess of nearly a month.

On Wednesday, Ng’s parents, who flew from Hong Kong, were expected to testify on behalf of their son.

But the proceedings before the jury and the public were halted early in the morning after defense attorney William Kelley brought to Ryan’s attention an allegation that Mitch Hrdlicka, an investigator with the Calaveras County district attorney’s office, was seen chatting with one of the jurors.

Ryan questioned the juror. She said the two talked about the investigator’s liking for unusual ties, which she said was a subject of conversation among jurors throughout the trial.

Ryan closed the court to spectators while he and the attorneys asked jurors about possible misconduct. The courtroom was reopened at 3:30 p.m., and Ryan made the announcement about the dismissal.

“I didn’t find that any juror engaged in misconduct by saying, ‘That’s an unusual tie you have on,’ ” Ryan said.

The juror, the second to be dismissed in the trial, was not identified and could not be reached for comment.

Jurors have been under strict orders since the trial began in October to avoid contact with journalists and others in the courtroom; they are prohibited from talking about the case with anyone.

Ryan admonished them again on Wednesday.

“I honestly urge you to stand clear of those in the audience,” he said. “There is nothing wrong with saying ‘Good morning.’ It’s not a great idea, though. . . . I don’t care if you have to cover your ears. Just don’t talk to them.”

Calaveras County Dist. Atty. Peter Smith, one of the prosecutors in the case, refused to comment. Hrdlicka, sporting a tie with a Norman Rockwell painting, also had no comment.

Early in the trial a juror was dismissed for personal reasons.