Juror in Deliberations Derided Valli’s Lawyer, Judge Told

During deliberations in Randi Valli’s misdemeanor battery trial, a juror made angry remarks about the defendant’s lawyer, deriding the attorney for his role in a high-profile murder case, three other jurors told a judge Tuesday.

Those jurors testified that a male juror announced in a angry voice that defense attorney Louis “Chuck” Samonsky was the same lawyer who withheld information on the location of Oak View teenager Kali Manley’s body.

“That’s the so-and-so who let the little girl lie in a ditch in Ojai,” one juror testified Tuesday, recalling the man’s alleged statement. “He [the juror] said, ‘I guess I should have mentioned that to the judge before I was seated.’ ”

Samonsky is demanding a new trial for Valli, the wife of 1960s singing icon Frankie Valli, on the grounds that one juror was biased against him and concealed it throughout his client’s two-week trial in April.

Superior Court Judge Herbert Curtis is expected to issue a written ruling later this summer.

Samonsky, a longtime criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, tried to protect suspect David Alvarez in December when the 22-year-old Ojai man told him he had information on the 14-year-old girl’s whereabouts.

Samonsky tried to negotiate with Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury, asking the prosecutor not to seek the death penalty if Alvarez led them to the girl. When Bradbury refused, Alvarez led investigators to the body anyway. He has since been charged with murder and attempted rape.

Samonsky was criticized, even threatened, for not disclosing the location of the girl’s remains earlier.

Mindful of public outrage over the case, which he has since dropped, Samonsky asked Curtis to question prospective jurors in Valli’s trial to determine whether they harbored any biases against him.

The 12 jurors seated indicated they did not, and Valli was later convicted of battery for slapping a Moorpark restaurant owner during a dispute over a meal in October.

After the jury was dismissed, a defense investigator learned from a juror that the panel reportedly had discussed Samonsky’s involvement in the murder case--raising a question of possible bias.

On Tuesday, eight jurors were ordered back into court for a hearing on alleged jury misconduct. All but one recalled overhearing conversation on Samonsky’s involvement in the murder case.

But those who recalled hearing remarks said the statements did not influence their verdict to convict Valli. They all told the judge their decisions were based on the facts of the case.

Several jurors told the judge they overhead conversations about Samonsky and the murder case in the courthouse hallway, but not during deliberations.

But three jurors said they recalled hearing a male juror, described only as No. 11, discuss Samonsky’s role in the murder case during deliberations in the Valli trial.

The forewoman, a 29-year-old department store employee who described the deliberations as “very hostile,” told the judge the male juror called Samonsky “that SOB who left that little girl in Ojai in a ditch for four days.”

The forewoman also said the male juror admitted to others that he was biased against the defense attorney and questioned whether he should have disclosed that to the judge.

On cross-examination, Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lonergan asked the forewoman if those alleged statements influenced her guilty verdict. She said they did not, but added she didn’t believe Valli should have been convicted.

The forewoman said she felt forced into the verdict by older jurors who suggested Valli was at fault because she had hired a “high-powered” attorney.

The forewoman said one juror threw a set of jury instructions at her for disagreeing, while another remarked: “I hate that celebrities always get off the hook.”

Two other jurors have previously testified on the misconduct allegations, telling Curtis in a separate hearing that they recalled no conversations on Samonsky’s involvement in the murder case.

Juror 11 has not been ordered to appear in court. Lonergan told reporters the juror is out of state on a three- to five-month vacation.

The prosecutor said he has conducted a tape-recorded interview with the juror, in which the man states his verdict was based solely on the facts of the case.