An Oro Valley man serving a life sentence for murdering his girlfriend has been granted a new trial because a juror failed to disclose personal information that could have disqualified her from serving.
It is the third major felony case since February to be jeopardized by juror misconduct, and the second to result in a mistrial. In the third, a motion for a new trial was denied.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Clark Munger announced Wednesday Paul Beam deserves a new trial because a juror didn't disclose a violent past relationship in which she and a former boyfriend went to court five times to obtain Orders of Protection against each other.
In February, Beam, 36, was convicted of first-degree murder for beating and strangling Lisa Berrie, 25, to death on Aug. 12, 2008, inside their Oro Valley apartment and sentenced to life in prison with parole possible after 25 years.
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During jury selection, prospective jurors were asked if they'd ever been involved in a domestic-violence situation, if they, a close friend or a family member had ever been charged or convicted of a crime or had been a victim of a crime.
Diana Urquidez told the attorneys her uncle is a convicted murderer but didn't share anything about being a past domestic-violence suspect or victim.
Assistant public defender Darlene Edminson-O'Brien, Beam's attorney, discovered Urquidez's past and asked Munger to set Beam's conviction aside, arguing she would have stricken Urquidez as a juror had she known about her past.
During an April 19 hearing, Urquidez testified she didn't remember being questioned about domestic violence. She also said, however, she didn't mention her past because she attended domestic-violence classes, paid a fine and felt she could be fair and impartial.
"My past is my past," Urquidez said.
After the hearing, Munger said, "I believe she intentionally lied because she had an ax to grind with domestic-violence suspects." However, he didn't issue his ruling until Wednesday.
In February, Pima County Superior Court Judge Terry Chandler declared a mistrial in the sexual assault trial of Deputy Michael Canizales after a juror revealed she was a rape victim five hours into deliberations.
The attorneys said the woman didn't disclose the rape on a written jury questionnaire and didn't tell anyone about it during normal jury questioning.
Chandler asked the Arizona Attorney General's Office to investigate the incident, and prosecutors have initiated criminal proceedings against her. A criminal contempt of court case is pending before Judge Richard Fields.
It's unknown if Munger intends to take similar action against Urquidez.
In the third case, defense attorneys asked Judge Christopher Browning to grant Ronald Young a new trial after discovering one of the jurors who found Young guilty in the death of Gary Triano had been convicted of interfering with judicial proceedings in a domestic-violence case, a misdemeanor.
The juror had been barred from e-mailing his former spouse about anything other than child visitation and he'd texted her about other matters.
The juror, who was not named in court documents, did not disclose the conviction on a written questionnaire or during the jury selection process.
Browning denied the motion Monday, saying although it was an unfortunate incident, there is no evidence the juror intentionally lied or wanted to increase his chances to be seated as a juror.
The judge also said it's not clear the juror would have been stricken from the panel even if everyone had known about the conviction.
Lisa Berrie's mother, Linda Berrie, said she is not upset Munger granted Paul Beam a new trial. She's upset with Urquidez for "blatantly lying," causing a second trial and "ripping the scab" off her family's wound.
"I understand having an ax to grind, but you've got to go about it the right way," Berrie said. "This is hurting too many people."
David Berkman, chief criminal deputy county attorney, said he hopes the recent rash of juror problems is an anomaly, not a trend.
"We're talking about victims' rights and defendants' rights and both have to be protected and respected and if you're not going to respect that, you shouldn't serve as a juror," Berkman said.
Pima County Public Defender Bob Hirsh said he doesn't believe it's fair to call the three cases a "trend."
However, if judges allowed the lawyers to spend more time on jury selection, such problems could be avoided, he said.
Both Berkman and Hirsh said their staffs don't have the time to conduct criminal background checks on every prospective juror, and neither is convinced such an invasion of privacy is appropriate.
On StarNet: Follow the news and events at Pima County's courthouses in Kim Smith's blog, At the Courthouse, at go.azstarnet.com/courthouse
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
