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DEL.ICIO.USDay 2 will bring more jury questioning
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Attorneys are expected to continue screening out opinionated jurors today during Day 2 of jury selection in the federal corruption trial of former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell.
On Tuesday, the first day of the trial, 17 potential jurors were placed into the jury pool out of 28 who were questioned.
Several prospective jurors were removed Tuesday for reasons ranging from job hardships to those who hated the IRS or already thought Campbell was guilty.
U.S. District Judge Richard Story brought in the first of the more than 230 potential jurors selected from around the metro area. Campbell’s defense team and federal prosecutors will select 12 to sit in judgement of the former mayor, plus four alternates.
The potential jurors are not being identified by name or address, only by number.
During the jury selection, Campbell leaned forward with a faint smile sometimes nodding as the potential jurors answered questions posed to them by the judge.
The jurors are bringing with them either knowledge of the case or already formed opinions.
Billy Martin, Campbell’s lead attorney, said he was “troubled� by two jurors in a row saying, “I will try but I am not sure� they can be fair. He asked the judge to nix both jurors and several other white men and women.
The judge agreed to dismiss some who said they already believed Campbell was guilty, but the judge said others could qualify to sit on the jury.
Prosecutors only asked to cut a few people from the group of potential jurors. Their list of undesirables included a middle-age white woman who worked for the state Department of Corrections for 10 years and is disdainful of snitches and a black car salesman from Union City who said he thought Campbell was a good mayor and he once dealt directly with the mayor when he owned his own landscaping business, which did work at Campbell’s home.
“I see myself as being more of an advocate for him than the prosecuting attorneys,” the man said. He said when he realized his jury summons involved Campbell’s case, his reaction was: “Oh gosh, I shouldn’t be here because of my relationship with him.”
Juror No. 7, a retired black man, said he had a daughter-in-law who had been sent to prison on embezzling charges but thought that the process was fair. He said he knew Ronnie Thornton, an expected witness who illegally contributed to the Campbell campaign, but it was in the 1950s, and Thornton was a boy at the time.
Among the other jurors, No. 8, a white middle-aged woman, said she had changed her mind since filling out the 24-page questionnaire last month that she and others received. At the time, she wrote that she could be fair.
“I got caught up in it,� No. 8 said about filling out the questionaire. “I thought I could be fair. I don’t think I can be.� The judge excused her.
Juror No. 2, a white man about 30 who was a volunteer firefighter in Woodstock, said he has heard family members recently refer to Campbell “as a crook.â€? The man, who is an inventor of firefighting and medical devices, wants to be excused from the jury because he has a chance to be a participant in a show similar to the popular “American Idolâ€? reality show, in Los Angeles in March. The man said he has seen minorities who have not been treated fairly by law enforcement officials. The defense asked that he be removed, but the judge didn’t make a decision Tuesday.
Juror No. 6, a white woman about 30 who moved to the Atlanta area about 18 months ago, told the court that politicians “have an ethical obligation, and they should be held up to that.� The defense also wanted her removed, but she was approved for the pool.
Beth Warren, Ernie Suggs and Mike Morris contributed to this story.
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