Meegan must wait on trial ruling

Bill Gang

Wednesday, Oct. 23, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

District Judge Sally Lohrer won't rule until next month on a motion for a new trial for convicted baby slayer James Meegan, but neither will she postpone his Oct. 29 sentencing.

Meegan's attorneys filed the motion for a new trial early this month over a last-minute decision by the chief prosecutor not to pursue the death penalty.

Loehrer said Tuesday that she will decide on Nov. 19 -- after reading new briefs from defense and prosecution attorneys -- whether a hearing needs to be held on the issue.

The surprise announcement by Deputy District Attorney John Lukens that the death penalty was "inappropriate" came on Aug. 17 just before the jury was to begin deliberations on the sentence.

The same jury had convicted the 39-year-old man of first-degree murder the month before.

Lukens said that because the shaking death of the 10-month-old Francine was not premeditated, the death penalty should not be given.

The motion for a new trial, filed by defense attorneys Anthony Sgro and David Schieck, alleges that prosecutors improperly sought the death penalty as an unfair trial tactic to seat a biased jury.

"Death qualified" juries -- those which have excluded persons inherently opposed to the death penalty -- are more prone to convicting a defendant of the most serious charges, the attorneys stated.

Those excluded, the attorneys said, generally contain a disproportionate number of minorities and women.

The defense team suggested that a more lenient jury might have acquitted Meegan or convicted him of a lesser charge -- like second-degree murder or manslaughter -- for the death six years ago that was kept a secret until early this year.

Loehrer will have to sentence Meegan because the jury couldn't agree during deliberations whether Meegan deserved a life prison sentence with or without the possibility of parole after 10 years.

Loehrer already has sentenced Meegan's wife, Lillian, to 18 years in prison on felony child abuse and neglect charges for her role in the death of 10-month-old Francine. No emergency care was sought when she stopped breathing and her body subsequently was taken to central Arizona, where it was doused with gasoline and set afire.

The death became a dark family secret until early this year when the ex-boyfriend of Lillian Meegan's sister learned of the missing child and the rumors that she had died. He called police in Las Vegas.