On Tuesday afternoon, after what felt like an hour of attorneys for the government and defendants pushing papers back and forth, furiously checking their notes and taking turns striking potential jurors, those watching from the overflow room let out a collective sigh: the jury had been chosen. Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II know which of their peers will decide their case.
Throughout the rest of the day, the jury heard opening statements from the prosecutors and defense attorneys, watched a bunch of drone and security camera footage and heard from an FBI agent called as witness for the prosecution. They also learned about things like a newfound tech issue in the courtroom that causes exhibit screens to frequently black out.
The Jury
All of Monday had been devoted to questioning the jury pool of at least 120 people on their backgrounds, interests and potential biases. Today, nine more jurors were struck for cause, which means either they or the judge felt they couldn’t give a fair and unbiased opinion of the case. Then, finally, just before lunch, after the attorneys finished the process to cut jurors they felt may be unfavorable to their case, Pennell announced the 12 people and three alternates that would be on the jury.
There’s a small quirk in the way Pennell runs her court: 15 people were chosen, and none of them will know if they’re one of the 12 people who will actually give a verdict on the case, or one of the three who are on standby in case an emergency renders someone unable to serve. This keeps all 15 people paying attention to everything the whole time, Pennell said…