Only 196 of 600 show for jury duty
By BARRY HALVORSON news@leader-news.com

The second 600 summoned for the James Garrett Freeman murder trial jury selection process qualified approximately the same number of potential jurors as the

rst.

While 121 potential jury members moved forward to the individual voir dire questioning following the first mass call, District Clerk Denice Malota said 80 were scheduled for individual questioning during this round. District Court Judge Randy Clapp said one new question changed the number.

"This time I added one question and that eliminated 40 people for cause that I didn't ask the first time," the judge said. "At its most basic, I asked if the potential jurors could ever consider applying the death penalty or if they had some moral, personal or religious belief that would prevent them from following the law."

Clapp said his query was one included in the juror questionnaire.

"During the individual questioning, I would say about 40 of the potential jurors were struck with cause because of that question," he said. "So without asking that question (Wednesday) we would have had almost identical numbers to the first time. And since those numbers would be statistically about the same, I'm comfortable that we're doing something right in the jury selection process."

The day was considerably shorter than the initial mass summons as well. The first time, jurors were given the questionnaires to fill out around 4 p.m. This time, they had completed filling out the documents by around 2 p.m.

"Things went much better this time around," Clapp said. "We changed the way we did several things."

The judge said that following those potential jurors who were initially excused, the way the jurors were numbered and seated was streamlined saving approximately 45 minutes. In addition, Clapp said he deferred asking some of the questions included the first time and is saving them for the mini or non-death issues voir dire scheduled to start Monday, Oct. 6. The first 70 of the 80 qualified were instructed to attend that first session starting at 9 a.m. in the District Clerk Building courtroom. voir dire, Clapp said he expects to finish seating the needed 12 jurors and two alternates before the end of next week. At present, 11 people have been selected for the jury.

"I think we can, but then I could be wrong," he said. "But based on the progress made so far, if you apply the statistics, we should be completed by the end of next week. But like any human endeavor, you can never be absolutely positive."

Of the 600 called Wednesday, 196 showed up at the Civic Center. Of those, 35 were excused following the initial instructions but before the voir dire process actually started. A total of 77, including the 40 responding to the death penalty question, were excused for cause. Another four left during the morning break and did not return.

"I will be having them come in and appear before me to explain what happened," Clapp said. "I want to know why they didn't return. It didn't help the process and people don't need to feel free to do what they want during jury selection."

Freeman, 27, of Lissie is charged in a Wharton County Grand Jury indictment with capital murder in connection with the March 17, 2007 shooting death of Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Warden Justin Hurst.

The calendar for the trial, as tentatively set by the court, calls for the trail to start on its merits - opening statements and first witness testimony - on Oct. 20. The current schedule calls for it to run through Nov. 7.