Judge Rules Haun Knives Inadmissible

Diana Haun’s attorneys successfully fought Friday to keep a jury from learning about a cache of knives seized from a night stand last year during two searches of her Port Hueneme home.

Superior Court Judge Frederick A. Jones ruled that prosecutors could not admit into evidence four knives--two carving tools and two others described as weapon-like--when testimony in Haun’s trial begins next week.

Jones apparently agreed with arguments by Deputy Public Defender Susan Olson, who said the knives had no connection to the May 1996 slaying of Ventura homemaker Sherri Dally.

To allow prosecutors to show them, Olson argued, would cause Haun’s jury to speculate that she is a woman fascinated with knives and sharp objects.

“There is no evidence that I am aware of that links these knives to the homicide,” Olson said, adding that most people are bound to have knives in their homes.

But prosecutors countered that the knives seized from Haun’s bedroom are not normal household items.

“Everyone has knives in their home--butter knives, carving knives. Ms. Haun has weapon-type knives,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Schwartz said.

He told the judge that prosecutors were willing to withdraw the carving knives from evidence, but wanted the jury to see the two double-edged knives.

The weapon used to kill Dally, a 35-year-old mother of two young boys, has never been found. But the coroner has reported that Dally was stabbed repeatedly, possibly with a double-bladed knife.

Schwartz said it’s possible one of the knives taken from Haun’s bedroom--including one with a jeweled handle--could have been used during the killing.

Olson countered by saying the fact that the knives were in Haun’s possession when seized May 18, 1996, strongly suggests they were not used in the fatal stabbing.

“It would be odd, indeed, for a killer to discard such items as clothing and a disguise and yet keep a murder weapon,” Olson wrote in court papers.

Prosecutors also asked the judge to allow the jury to hear statements from a Haun grocery store co-worker who told investigators that she saw Haun handling a 7-inch butterfly knife more than a year before Dally was killed.

The co-worker told authorities that Haun was flipping the knife around “as if she knew how to use it,” according to court papers.

The grocery store employee also told investigators that she was told by Haun that the knife was a gift from Michael Dally, and that they shared a mutual interest in knives, prosecutors said.

Dally and Haun were having an extramarital affair for about two years before Sherri Dally’s killing. Michael Dally is also charged in the slaying, and his trial is set to follow Haun’s.

Schwartz successfully argued that the co-worker’s statements would be significant during the trial because Michael Dally allegedly talked to a former girlfriend before the killing about stabbing his wife with a knife.

“I don’t think it was just a coincidence that the victim was killed by a knife,” Schwartz said, “given the defendant’s fascination with knives.”

Jones said he would allow the co-worker’s testimony.

Prosecutors also want to show the jury two catalogs from the Atlanta Cutlery Co. that were taken during the June 18, 1996, search of Haun’s bedroom.

Olson argued the catalogs were irrelevant because neither Dally nor Haun ordered knives from Atlanta Cutlery.

Jones said he would rule later on that issue.

Prosecutors said they also want the jury to see several volumes of books on witchcraft and the supernatural that were seized from Haun’s home. Some of the books contained information on spells and rites to protect against evil.

Arguments on the admissibility of those books will occur after lawyers’ opening statements Monday.

Haun and Michael Dally are charged with murder, kidnapping and conspiracy. They also face two special circumstance allegations that the slaying of Sherri Dally was committed for financial gain and while her attacker was lying in wait. Those circumstances would make them eligible for the death penalty if convicted.