Murder Case Retrial Will Be Appealed

SANTA ANA — Prosecutors in the case of a man convicted of murdering an Irvine woman filed papers Monday indicating they will appeal a judge’s order for a new trial.

Earl Rhoney’s second trial was scheduled to begin next week. The 20-year-old had been convicted in December of murdering 46-year-old Patricia Lea Pratt during a burglary in 1994. His conviction was unprecedented in California because it hinged largely on bloodhound- sniffing evidence authorities had gathered through the use of a “scent machine.”

Calling the bloodhound evidence unreliable, Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Rackauckas Jr. threw out a jury’s verdict on March 10, the day Rhoney was to be sentenced. He faced life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Debbie Lloyd, who prosecuted the case, said the appeal will be filed within 90 days.

“The ultimate goal is to preserve the jury’s verdict,” Lloyd said Monday.

The prosecution had sought to have Rackauckas remove himself from the retrial but the judge refused.

Deputy Public Defender Sharon Petrosino said it would “probably be a good, solid year” before the appeal is completed.

“We were ready to go to trial,” a disappointed Petrosino said. “I didn’t expect this appeal. Now my client sits in custody and we have nothing to do.”

Petrosino said she plans to ask that Rhoney be released on bail pending a decision by the 4th District Court of Appeals.

Rhoney has steadfastly maintained his innocence.

Police targeted Rhoney two weeks after Pratt’s slaying when he was picked up for an unrelated burglary in the Turtle Rock community.

The key evidence in the murder case came from a machine that investigators say extracted Rhoney’s dead skin cells from the victim’s clothing. The extracted matter, known as scurf, was transferred onto a gauze pad and then frozen for safekeeping.

Nine months after Pratt’s slaying, a bloodhound named Duchess sniffed the pad and then followed Rhoney, then 17, as he walked free from Juvenile Hall where he had just finished serving time for an unrelated burglary. Rhoney was arrested at a nearby shopping mall.