Haun Ordered to Pay $202,400 for Her Defense

In a rare legal move, a judge Monday ordered convicted killer Diana Haun to pay the cost of her own defense: $202,400 racked up by public defenders.

But the judge did not stop there.

Superior Court Judge Frederick A. Jones said he also would consider forcing Haun to reimburse the state for the cost of her life prison sentence.

A 1994 state law now provides for such reimbursement by criminal defendants if they are able to pay. But according to a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, it has never been done.

Both moves are possible because the 36-year-old Port Hueneme woman collects an annuity worth nearly $1 million over the next 25 years because of an injury she suffered as a teenager.

Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael K. Frawley said his office plans to contact the attorney general’s office and recommend that state prosecutors go after Haun’s annuity.

“We have a unique situation here where the state will take care of Ms. Haun’s needs for the rest of her life,” Frawley argued in court Monday, suggesting that the court garnishee every penny it can.

Citing factual and legal uncertainties, Jones stopped short of demanding that Haun pay the costs of her imprisonment. But the judge said he would take up the issue once a brief is filed by the attorney general’s office.

Haun was convicted of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy in September for fatally stabbing her lover’s wife.

The former grocery clerk was spared execution by the same jury, which found she was duped by co-defendant Michael Dally into committing the crimes. The jury sentenced Haun instead to life in prison without parole--a sentence imposed by Jones last month.

But at that hearing, the judge delayed a ruling on questions concerning the payment of restitution to relatives of victim Sherri Dally as well as the thornier issue of reimbursement of county costs.

Jones called a hearing on those issues Monday, ruling first that Haun must pay $10,000 to a state fund that aids crime victims. He took under submission the question of whether Sherri Dally’s family should also be paid $4,900 for costs associated with the case.

He then took up the issue of the county’s expenses. Deputy Public Defender Neil Quinn told the court that he and co-counsel Susan Olson worked at least 2,530 hours on the case at $80 an hour for a total of $202,400.

Prosecutors have no legal means to recover their costs. The district attorney’s office, citing a gag order in the case, has declined to say how much the prosecution has cost.

Because Haun earns $1,440 a month as a result of a decades-old legal settlement--an amount that increases every five years until she is 61--Jones ruled that she is able to reimburse the county for her defense and ordered her annuity garnished.

“The defendant does have the assets to repay the county of Ventura the cost of her defense,” he ruled.

The defense bill--without interest--will be spread over the 25 years remaining on Haun’s annuity. Payment begins Jan. 1 at $360 a month and increases as the annuity grows. By 2022, when the annuity ends, the reimbursement would reach $1,545 a month.

The payments would cease with the annuity if Haun dies in prison.

In most cases, defendants represented by the public defender’s office cannot afford to hire their own lawyers, which makes Haun’s case an unusual exception.

In fact, lawyers for the county counsel and public defender’s office said they could not recall another case in which a defendant was ordered to pay so much money.

“It is very unusual,” said Assistant County Counsel William Waters, who prepared a brief on the matter. “They very seldom get reimbursed for what they provide, which is excellent legal representation.”

Haun’s case presented an unusual set of circumstances for the county public defender’s office, Quinn said after the conclusion of Monday’s hearing.

His client was financially secure because of the annuity, which was set up after she suffered a severe head injury when a basketball backboard fell on her head at age 15. But because terms of her annuity did not allow her to draw on future payments, the former grocery clerk did not have the immediate cash needed to launch a defense in a capital murder case, Quinn said.

“You can’t find a qualified capital attorney to take a case on the amount of resources that were actually available at the time . . . $1,400 a month and working at Vons isn’t that much money,” he said.

“It’s a matter of not being able to come up with the money up front,” he said.

Upon reviewing her income and other financial assets, Quinn said, his office determined that Haun was capable of reimbursement over the course of her lifetime.

“I think it’s fair that she reimburse the county according to her ability of pay,” he said. “The court’s orders are reasonable.”

JUDGE WITHDRAWS: Robert C. Bradley quits Michael Dally case after drunk-driving arrest. A1