| Juror pool thinning | |||
|
By Patrice St. Germain patrices@thespectrum.com | |||
ST. GEORGE - The jury pool of 300 potential jurors in the state's case against Warren Steed Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is already down to about 230 jurors. Because of the number of jurors, the questionnaire administered to the group was held Friday morning at the Dixie Center. Nancy Volmer, public information officer for the Utah Courts, said some in the jury pool had been excused either through juror qualification or requesting to be excused or as no-shows. Volmer said the most jurors previously called in a trial was in the state's case against Todd Mulder, which was earlier this year, when over 200 jurors were called. But having questionnaires by potential jurors filled out at the courthouse rather than by mail isn't unusual in high-profile cases, Volmer said. "We have seen that in other cases," Volmer said. Questions asked of prospective jurors ranged from religious and organizational affiliations to asking if jurors or their immediate family had any experience with members of the FLDS Church. What is unusual, however, in the state's case against Jeffs, who has been charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice for allegedly arranging a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old first cousin, is the amount of media attention the case is getting. Volmer said the only other case that has received this much attention was the state's case against Mark Hacking, which didn't end up going to trial. The case against Jeffs is expected to last until Sept. 21 and will be held in 5th District Court with high security as long as eight jurors and two alternates can be seated. The trial will begin as soon as the jurors are found, but Volmer said it is expected the trial will begin on Wednesday. Starting Monday morning, 50 jurors will be brought into court and taken one at a time into Judge James L. Shumate's chambers for the voir dire, which is the questioning of prospective jurors by the judge and attorneys to determine if any juror is biased or cannot deal with issues fairly. Shumate had said in court previously that he normally does not allow the attorneys to question potential jurors in the voir dire process, but would be allowing it in the Jeffs case. Volmer said the eight jurors and alternatives would be paid at a rate of $18.50 for the first day of service and $49 for each subsequent day of service. Jurors living more than 50 miles from the courthouse are paid $1 for each four mile increment over 50 miles. In Utah, Volmer said the only time a jury of 12 is seated is in the case of capital homicide. "In most criminal and civil cases, only eight jurors are seated," Volmer said. As far as witnesses, the state has listed 18 people as potential witnesses while the defense has 71 names listed. Friday afternoon, several motions were heard in court including a Motion in Limine regarding criminal responsibility for conduct of another which was basically to determine if the state needed to prove John Doe's, the alleged victim's husband, mental state. Shumate ruled in the state's favor that Doe's mental state does not need to be determined at this time. One surprising piece of information that came from Friday's hearing is that John Doe, although he has not been charged with rape, is under investigation for the alleged crime but information relating to that is under seal. Richard Wright, one of Jeffs' attorneys, said the fact that Doe was under investigation by the Washington County Attorney's Office was nothing the defense team had knowledge of. The FLDS church is not affiliated with the Salt Lake City-based LDS church. | |||
|
TheSpectrum.com Originally published September 8, 2007 | |||
| Back | |||
| For more information email: | |||
