SANTA ANA (CNS) - Attorneys will return to court Tuesday to discuss how to move forward with jury selection in the trial of the man charged with killing a former high school classmate, in what prosecutors alleged was a hate crime because the victim was gay.
Samuel Lincoln Woodward, accused of the Jan. 3, 2018, killing of 19- year-old Blaze Bernstein, had an outburst in court Thursday, which prompted his attorney to motion to dismiss the jury pool, which was granted by Orange County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Menninger.
Menninger, however, also declared a mistrial, according to the minutes in court records, which would mean a dismissal of all of the pretrial motions that were settled before trial.
It is not clear if Menninger wanted to declare a mistrial and meant to just start over with jury selection, but that should come into focus more on Tuesday. There may be some discussion about whether it is possible to keep some of the jurors who qualified for the jury but did not witness the outburst.
There may also be some discussion about whatever comments Menninger made that may have led to the defendant's "disruption," and whether she should step aside for another judge in the trial.
Chapman University law professor Mario Mainero said it would be unlikely to recuse Menninger at this point.
"If (the defense) tries a motion to recuse I'm sure the judge would not approve it," Mainero said.
Whatever the judge said to the jury pool that appeared to anger the defendant, Mainero said, "I don't see that being a significant (issue). It doesn't show a bias against him. And, anyway, she's cured it by getting a new jury pool."
A defendant can't be allowed to jockey for a new judge by disrupting court proceedings, Mainero said.
Jury selection and pretrial motions have been grinding on for weeks in the highly publicized and complex case, but it appears jury selection could begin again next week, setting back testimony only about a couple of weeks.
Woodward's previous attorney Ed Munoz said at the defendant's preliminary hearing that Woodward is afflicted with Asperger's syndrome and spent years conflicted about his sexuality. Prosecutors, however, have painted a picture of a gay-bashing defendant with ties to white supremacists.
Woodward is charged with murder with sentencing enhancements for a hate crime and the personal use of a deadly weapon. He is facing up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if he is convicted.
Woodward and Bernstein were classmates at the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana and had reconnected through the social media platform Snapchat before the killing.
The suspected murder weapon was a folding knife inscribed with Woodward's father's name, prosecutors said.
Woodward told investigators during questioning that he contacted the victim through Snapchat and picked him up about 11 p.m. Jan. 2, 2018, according to testimony at the preliminary hearing.
He drove Bernstein to the parking lot of a Hobby Lobby store in Foothill Ranch, a sheriff's investigator testified.
When Bernstein kissed Woodward, the defendant pushed him away and used a derogatory term for homosexuals, prompting Bernstein to apologize profusely, the investigator testified. The two agreed to go then to the park, the investigator said.
According to the investigator, Woodward still "wanted to hang out" with Bernstein so long as the victim understood Woodward wasn't interested in him romantically.
Investigators found homophobic and Atomwaffen-related material on the defendant's computer devices, the previous prosecutor in the case said at the preliminary hearing.
Bernstein was stabbed about 20 times. Woodward buried the body in a dirt perimeter at Borrego Park in Lake Forest, which is near the home of the victim's parents, according to prosecutors.
The body of the University of Pennsylvania pre-med student was found about a week later in a shallow grave in the park following a highly publicized search.