Jury selection, day 3

The third day of jury selection in the Neil Entwistle trial ended with 15 jurors, one short of the 16 needed. Today started with 24 qualified jurors, but the number soon decreased to 23 as one juror was excused because she worked for the same ambulance company as one of the court officers.

Next, the first 16 of the 23 remaining jurors filed into the courtroom and took their seats in the jury box. The prosecution and defense are each allowed to challenge 16 jurors without giving a reason. As each side challenged jurors, additional jurors arrived to take their place. Fewer than 16 jurors remained after the challenges, however, so most of the day was devoted to finding more qualified jurors.

Many of the jurors who were questioned today admitted that they had already formed opinions about Entwistle's guilt and were unable to conosider him innocent until proven guilty. Only a few had never heard of the case. One woman said she heard other jurors talking about Entwistle while waiting in line, saying things like "fry him" and "send him away." This angered defense attorney Elliot Weinstein, who (yet again) moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the pool of jurors was "impermissibly infected." Yet again, Judge Diane Kottmyer denied his motion, pointing out that the jurors who made those comments were probably among those who had already been excused for having formed opinions about the case.

After lunch recess and again at the end of the day, both sides had a chance to use more of their challenges. 15 jurors remained by the end of the day. Unfortunately, because the jury pool is exhausted, the selection process will start all over again tomorrow morning to fill the remaining seat. A new group of about 70 jurors will fill out the questionnaire and will then be questioned individually by the judge. There is a chance that opening statements could take place as early as tomorrow afternoon, but I wouldn't count on it.

The Entwistle family was in court again today. They were accompanied for part of the time by their lawyer, Peter Parker, who also defended Alexander Pring-Wilson.