Opinion ID: 1801792
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Juror Jose S.'s Prior Acquaintance with Victim Pedersen

Text: Charlia S., one of the jurors at petitioner's capital trial, executed a declaration on August 22, 1996, five years after that trial ended. At the time of the reference hearing in 2007, Charlia S. had died. The referee admitted her declaration into evidence. In the declaration, Charlia S. stated: One day when we were waiting for the bus, [Jose S.] said he knew the victim, Michael Pederson [ sic ], a gay man. [Jose S.] referred to the victim as `Michael' and said `Michael was a good man.' [Jose S.] said `Michael' had been in some kind of trouble when he was younger, and that he ([Jose S.]) helped him get out of that trouble. The trouble had something to do with the Emporium department store. I believe [Jose S.] said he helped Michael Pederson [ sic ] get a job at the Emporium, which job he did not hold for very long. Russell Stetler testified at the reference hearing that he was a defense investigator during petitioner's trial. In that capacity, he interviewed Juror Charlia S. on July 1, 1991, a few months after the jury had returned the penalty verdict on March 11, 1991. His notes of that interview did not report the juror's words verbatim but paraphrased what she told him about Juror Jose S.'s prior acquaintance with victim Pedersen, as follows: I think he knew this guy. Something he said to me before he was on the jury. When Pederson [ sic ] was younger, in trouble at the Emporium or something, he counseled him on it. Stetler interviewed Jose S. on July 7, 1991. In that interview, Jose S. denied any prior acquaintance with Pedersen. Jose S. testified at the hearing and denied any prior acquaintance with victim Pedersen. Trial Juror Andrew N. testified that Jose S. indicated, during the trial, that he had heard of Pedersen but did not know anyone who knew him. Trial Jury Foreperson John C. testified that Jose S. never said anything about Pedersen that indicated he had heard about him before the trial. Trial Juror Allen P. likewise testified that Jose S. never indicated that he knew Pedersen or knew of him. The referee found that petitioner did not establish by a preponderance of the evidence that Juror Jose S. was personally acquainted with victim Henry Michael Pedersen.