Death Penalty

Prosecutors won't decide until after a preliminary hearing whether they should seek the death penalty against a Costa Mesa actor accused of killing two Orange Coast College students, officials said Wednesday. Daniel Wozniak, 26, is charged with two counts of murder with sentencing enhancements for allegedly killing his Army veteran neighbor for money, beheading him and dismembering his body and then fatally shooting a friend of the victim hours later in hopes of throwing police off his tracks.

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Daniel Wozniak, the Costa Mesa man accused of killing and beheading his neighbor then killing a friend of the neighbor to cover up the first crime, Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas announced Thursday. The Wozniak case marks the first this year in which the county's top prosecutor and his team are seeking the death penalty. It is the second murder case in Costa Mesa in 2010. "Some murders are committed with such a depraved heart and in such a callous manner that the only punishment that fits the crime is the death penalty," Rackauckas said at a news conference in Santa Ana. On Thursday morning, Rackauckas and his office's Special Circumstances Committee decided that the details behind the slaying of Samuel Herr, 26, and Juri "Julie" Kibuishi, 23 — both Orange Coast College students — warranted death for their suspected killer.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against a Garden Grove man accused of executing a Costa Mesa man and his co-worker during a robbery last year in Stanton. Because of the seriousness of the alleged crime, and the nature of the slayings, a panel of Orange County district attorney prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Hilbert Pineil Thomas, 39. Thomas is accused of shooting, execution-style, Costa Mesa resident Matthew Francis Scott, 42, and his coworker Elizabeth Ann Palmer, 50, of Fountain Valley, on Feb. 2, 2010 at Golden Sun Homes in Stanton.

A new jury will decide whether a man convicted of raping and killing a pregnant Costa Mesa woman should receive the death penalty or life in prison. On Monday an Orange County Superior Court judge scheduled a retrial in the penalty phase of Jason Michael Balcolm's case for May 14. The earlier jury deadlocked 10 to 2 on whether to give the 42-year-old the death penalty, which incited Judge Francisco Briseno to declare a mistrial. Balcom was convicted in March of first-degree murder for sexually assaulting and murdering 22-year-old Malinda Gibbons in 1988.

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Juan Manuel Alvarez, accused of murdering 11 people in the January Metrolink train derailment, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office announced in court Friday. A committee met Wednesday to go over the case, and the chairman of the committee, Kurt Hazell, made the final decision, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office. "It's not a popular vote," she said. "But the committee discusses the case and the chairman makes the final decision."

The death penalty will be explored in various mediums today at UC Irvine. "Performance, Policy and Culture: 'Dead Man Walking' and the Death Penalty in America" is an all-day symposium addressing the societal implications and issues surrounding the death penalty in America. The event will combine live performance scenes from Opera Pacific's production of "Dead Man Walking" with a scholarly forum with speakers who include a U.S. Circuit Court judge and an L.A. County chief deputy district attorney.

Many academics in recent years have been arguing that their studies prove the death penalty deters murder. The various studies show that between three and 18 lives could be saved by executing a convicted killer. Critics question the data, saying that the experts made mistakes in their methodology. What do you think of this recent data? Has it affected your position on the issue? Judaism has always believed in capital punishment based upon Biblical Law. A man must stand trial according to due process of law. You shall not murder is the sixth of the Ten Commandments.

Family members of slain Newport Beach liquor store clerk Hao “Tony” Quang Huynh filled the front row of the courtroom during Weston Scott Kruger’s arraignment Friday. “I want to know why he killed my brother and how,” said a tearful Jenni Huynh outside the courtroom. The 6-foot-5, 275-pound Kruger is accused of killing Huynh July 28 in a scuffle after the clerk accused him of shoplifting and chased him outside of Sportsman’s Liquor Store in Newport Beach.

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a Michigan convict who they say has been linked to the rape and murder of a pregnant Costa Mesa woman in 1988 through DNA evidence. Jason Balcom, 38, was serving a 30- to 50-year prison sentence in Michigan for rape and kidnapping when in 2004 DNA evidence linked him to a cold murder case in Costa Mesa, officials said. Prosecutors said on July 18, 1988, Balcom attacked a pregnant Malinda Gibbons in her home as she unpacked (she and her husband had moved to Costa Mesa from Utah two days earlier)

A new jury will decide whether a man convicted of raping and killing a pregnant Costa Mesa woman should receive the death penalty or life in prison. On Monday an Orange County Superior Court judge scheduled a retrial in the penalty phase of Jason Michael Balcolm's case for May 14. The earlier jury deadlocked 10 to 2 on whether to give the 42-year-old the death penalty, which incited Judge Francisco Briseno to declare a mistrial. Balcom was convicted in March of first-degree murder for sexually assaulting and murdering 22-year-old Malinda Gibbons in 1988.

SANTA ANA - While convicted murderer and rapist Jason Michael Balcom sat and showed no emotion, attorneys explained to jurors during the penalty phase of the trial Wednesday why they should vote for death or life without parole for the killing of Malinda Gibbons. Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy took issue with the idea that anything in Balcom's childhood was significant enough to influence his decision to rape and murder the young, pregnant Costa Mesa resident in 1988. Instead, he said, Balcom, 41, did it because he chose to. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version incorrectly listed Jason Michael Balcom's age as 42. At the time this article was written, he was 41. His birthday was Monday.

Question : I'm a Holocaust survivor who made it to the United States through the Dominican Republic by a big miracle. As time went by, I realized one thing: God did not let the Holocaust happen; we let it happen. Recently, I read a newspaper article about the death of a 6-year-old child. This child had been suffering since the age of 2. She'd done nothing against nature. Her parents didn't even have a chance to teach her the difference between right and wrong. Why do children have to suffer before they even have a chance to enjoy life?

The head of a deadly crime syndicate sentenced to life in federal prison earlier this month for robberies across California will be transferred to the state corrections system to face the death penalty for an earlier conviction, federal officials said. Anh The Duong, 35, was sentenced to life in prison Feb. 4 by a federal judge in a Northern California district court for killing four people and committing 15 robberies, including a pair in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. In September 2000, Duong and his men robbed Tourneau jewelry store in South Coast Plaza and disarmed the guard.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against a Garden Grove man accused of executing a Costa Mesa man and his co-worker during a robbery last year in Stanton. Because of the seriousness of the alleged crime, and the nature of the slayings, a panel of Orange County district attorney prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Hilbert Pineil Thomas, 39. Thomas is accused of shooting, execution-style, Costa Mesa resident Matthew Francis Scott, 42, and his coworker Elizabeth Ann Palmer, 50, of Fountain Valley, on Feb. 2, 2010 at Golden Sun Homes in Stanton.

The convicted leader of a jewel-thieving gang that killed eight people should be sentenced to life in prison — not death, as prosecutors hoped — a federal jury has determined. Anh The Duong, the leader of a band of gun-toting thieves who robbed jewelry and electronic stores up and down California, including two heists in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, will be sentenced Feb. 3 in federal court in San Jose. Duong was convicted in September of killing four of the eight people who died during the gang's eight-year crime spree.

In a show of unity as part of the brotherhood of police officers, 43 officers from Costa Mesa and Newport Beach traveled to the Inland Empire Tuesday to attend the memorial service for slain Riverside police officer Ryan Bonaminio. The officers, 18 from the Costa Mesa Police Department and 25 from the Newport Beach Police Department, were part of a three mile-long convoy that left Orange County early in the morning for Riverside County. They were among thousands of people in law enforcement honoring the 27-year-old Iraq war veteran, who was shot to death while on duty the night of Nov. 7. Newport Beach Police Chief Jay Johnson was among those who attended.

Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Anh The Duong, who led armed robberies throughout the state, including two in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. Duong's crew, a band of jewelry thieves, had been operating since 1993, when they held up a NGY Jewelers in Santa Ana at gunpoint and made off with $500,000 worth of loose diamonds. Under his direction, the group traveled up and down California robbing banks, and jewelry and electronics stores. Police said Duong and his men operated on a shoot-first basis.

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Daniel Wozniak, the Costa Mesa man accused of killing and beheading his neighbor then killing a friend of the neighbor to cover up the first crime, Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas announced Thursday. The Wozniak case marks the first this year in which the county's top prosecutor and his team are seeking the death penalty. It is the second murder case in Costa Mesa in 2010. "Some murders are committed with such a depraved heart and in such a callous manner that the only punishment that fits the crime is the death penalty," Rackauckas said at a news conference in Santa Ana. On Thursday morning, Rackauckas and his office's Special Circumstances Committee decided that the details behind the slaying of Samuel Herr, 26, and Juri "Julie" Kibuishi, 23 — both Orange Coast College students — warranted death for their suspected killer.

Prosecutors won't decide until after a preliminary hearing whether they should seek the death penalty against a Costa Mesa actor accused of killing two Orange Coast College students, officials said Wednesday. Daniel Wozniak, 26, is charged with two counts of murder with sentencing enhancements for allegedly killing his Army veteran neighbor for money, beheading him and dismembering his body and then fatally shooting a friend of the victim hours later in hopes of throwing police off his tracks.