VENTURA : Judge Denies Retrial Despite Misconduct

A Ventura County judge refused to order a new trial Wednesday for an Oxnard man convicted of second-degree murder and robbery in June--even though the judge agreed that there had been jury misconduct in the case.

Superior Court Judge Charles R. McGrath said jurors improperly used a dictionary to look up the words “malice” and “forethought.”

Jurors are instructed to rely only on definitions provided by the court, attorneys said.

Despite the misconduct, McGrath said that defendant Hector Garcia’s fair-trial rights were not violated.

The Superior Court jury found the 23-year-old Garcia guilty of killing Wayne Mansir, 24, of Oxnard. Authorities say that Mansir was shot after a disagreement with Garcia over how to split proceeds from a robbery that netted them $187,000.

Deputy Public Defender Richard E. Holly argued that his client deserved a new trial. The jury’s interpretation of the word malice was central to the case, he said. “It wasn’t just any old word,” Holly said. “It’s the heart of the case.”

But Deputy Dist. Atty. James D. Ellison told McGrath that the jurors quickly discovered they were not supposed to use the dictionary--which they received from a court bailiff, he said--and put it aside.

Sentencing in the case was set for Wednesday.