OC Courtroom Outburst Delays Trial For The Murder Of Blaze Bernstein

LAKE FOREST, CA — A mistrial has been declared in the trial of the man charged with killing a former high school classmate in what prosecutors have alleged was a hate crime because the victim was gay when the defendant had an outburst during jury selection, leaving lawyers Friday to decide how to proceed in the case.

Attorneys will return to court Tuesday to discuss how to move forward with jury selection in the trial of Samuel Lincoln Woodward, who is accused of the Jan. 3, 2018, killing of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein, a University of Pennsylvania pre-med student whose body was found in a shallow grave in Borrego Park in Lake Forest.

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 had some sort of an outburst in court Thursday that prompted his attorney to motion for a mistrial, which was granted by Orange County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Menninger.

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 a 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 the park, which is near the home of the victim's parents, according to prosecutors.

Bernstein's body was found about a week later following a highly publicized search.