Judge Orders a Third Trial in Peitz Case

VAN NUYS — In a rare decision, a Van Nuys judge Wednesday ordered a third trial for Jeffrey Dale Peitz although two juries could not agree on whether he killed his wife while she watched the TV show “Cops” in the family’s Palmdale home.

Michelle Leigh Peitz, 17, who has defended her father as innocent, wept when Superior Court Judge Meredith C. Taylor rejected a defense attorney’s request to dismiss the case. Taylor ordered that Peitz, who has been jailed since August, remain in custody without bail.

The parents of Teri Lynn Peitz, the dead woman, said they were delighted and did not want to see their son-in-law set free.

“I could have jumped through the roof I was so happy,” said Teri Peitz’s father, Jack Wells of Riverside. “I’ll sit through 10 more (trials) if I have to. My daughter deserves to see justice done. That’s my girl who’s lying in the cemetery.”

Two juries have been hopelessly divided over Peitz’s guilt, resulting in mistrials. Deputy Dist. Atty. John A. Portillo said he was unsure what changes--if any--he will make in the prosecution case in an effort to get a unanimous verdict at the next trial, tentatively scheduled to begin June 1.

“I don’t know if there will be anything different,” he said. “It’s just something I’ll have to evaluate over the next month.”

Defense attorney Richard S. Plotin said his client was “devastated” by Wednesday’s ruling, even though the 39-year-old mail carrier, dressed in a gray suit, showed little emotion in the courtroom.

Plotin said he has never seen a third trial ordered in a criminal case during his 26 years of practice, which he said included 30 murder trials.

Peitz’s first trial ended in January when jurors split 9 to 3 in favor of conviction. The second mistrial was declared Tuesday when another jury deadlocked 8 to 4, again in favor of conviction.

Wednesday, Plotin urged the judge to dismiss the case because of the emotional toll that two trials had exacted on Peitz and his family. Plotin also insisted that because there is virtually no physical evidence linking Peitz to the slaying, another jury would probably find itself as unable to agree on a verdict as the first two.

“There will never be a unanimous verdict,” Plotin told the judge. “They have had two bites at the apple. Mr. Portillo has put on a very good case on both occasions. I don’t think it will be cost-effective to the county and to the people involved to go one more round.”

But the prosecutor, Portillo, pointed out that 17 of the 24 jurors in the two trials had voted for a conviction. He said a case of “cold-blooded, premeditated murder” should be decided by a jury, not dismissed by a judge.

Judge Taylor acknowledged that this was a difficult case for jurors to decide unanimously. But she concluded, “With respect to the interests of justice, it is better served by trying it one more time. It is worth the time, the effort and the expenditure to have it tried one more time.”

She denied a motion to set bail for Peitz, saying Peitz was aware of which way the past two juries had leaned and knew that he could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.

Wednesday’s ruling was the latest twist in a case that began Aug. 12, when Peitz dialed 911 to report that his wife had been shot while watching “Cops,” her favorite television show, in the living room. Peitz told investigators he was upstairs when he heard the shots and that he came down just in time to see an intruder fleeing through the front door.

Peitz said the intruder appeared to be a man living illegally in a nearby house, who had quarreled with Teri Peitz, 37, and other members of the Neighborhood Watch group she had founded. But that suspect had an alibi, and deputies arrested Jeffrey Peitz eight days after the slaying.

Investigators alleged that he killed his wife because he was having an affair with a co-worker and because he stood to collect on a $100,000 insurance policy.

But authorities never found the weapon used in the slaying, and gunshot residue tests on Jeffrey Peitz’s hands were negative.

Most jurors decided that Peitz’s suspicious conduct after his wife’s death and the circumstantial evidence unearthed by investigators proved that he was guilty. But others said the evidence was not strong enough to convince them beyond a reasonable doubt.

John Spillane, supervising deputy district attorney in Lancaster, where the case originated, said Wednesday there will be no change in prosecutors for the third trial.

“Obviously, Mr. Portillo knows this case better than anyone else in this office,” Spillane said. “He’s an excellent prosecutor, and we have every confidence that he will do as good--if not a better--job than anyone else.”

Spillane said the courtroom strategy may be reviewed in coming weeks. But he added: “Essentially, the evidence isn’t going to change much.”

When the third trial begins, the victim’s parents, Jack and Betty Wells, said they will again drive to Van Nuys each Monday and check into a local motel so that they can again listen to the grim testimony and again wait for a verdict. Jack Wells acknowledged that the attorneys face a formidable challenge.

“To get 12 members of the jury to see the same thing--it’s hard,” he said.