Three Go On Trial In Death Of Oscar-Winning Actor

It’s hard enough to deal with one jury in a high-profile murder case, but prosecutor Craig Hum has to give three opening statements today to three juries in the trial of the men accused of killing Academy Award-winner Haing S. Ngor.

“Logistically the real challenge will be keeping everyone straight,” Hum said.

Three men are charged in the 1996 shooting death of the Cambodian-born Ngor, 55, who won a best-supporting actor Oscar for his role in the movie “The Killing Fields.”

Movement and positioning of jurors in the courtroom will be so tricky throughout the trial that the process will require choreography of sorts, using color-coding, charts, maps, badges and a video system.

The defendants, alleged members of the Oriental Lazyboys, a Chinatown street gang, are accused of killing Ngor in a robbery outside his home. Their lawyers initially asked for three separate trials because the defendants had made tape-recorded statements potentially implicating themselves and each other in the crime.

The law severely limits use of such statements, particularly if a defendant does not testify.

Rather than order the cumbersome procedure of three separate trials with many of the same witnesses, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge J.D. Smith came up with the solution of having one trial with three separate juries.

The three-jury procedure has been used only once before in California - in a San Diego case - and the judge there called it “an extremely stressful event.”