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DEL.ICIO.US‘Hanging’ remark removes juror
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A quick decision to remove one prospective juror before he ever appeared Wednesday showed how sensitive the federal corruption case against former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell has become — even before testimony begins.
Campbell’s lead defense attorney, Billy Martin, stood up at one point and asked U.S. District Court Judge Richard Story to disqualify the man because he wrote in a questionnaire used to screen jurors that Campbell ought to be “hung from the highest tree.�
Some Campbell supporters already believe the case against him is racially motivated.
“To suggest he be lynched and hung from the highest tree is not an opinion,� Martin said. “That’s blatant racism.�
The man was excused without ever appearing before Story, who questions prospective jurors individually.
Despite the excusal — and several more for other reasons — the court was able by this afternoon to qualify 28 people who will be part of a pool that will be whittled down to a 12-person jury.
Sixteen of the 28 potential jurors so far are white, 11 are black, and one is a Pacific Islander. The court will qualify eight more potential jurors to get four alternates for the trial, which is expected to go into March.
The jury would be seated Thursday, with opening arguments scheduled for Monday.
Among other prospective jurors appearing Wednesday, one man was removed because of uneasy economic times at Delta Air Lines.
The man wrote that the Atlanta-based carrier is headed toward another round of layoffs and “it was intimated to me this would not be a good time for me to not be doing my job.�
The judge threw up his hands in frustration after the man left the room.
Prosecutor Russell Vineyard asked the judge to investigate which Delta supervisor might have issued the warning, but Story declined, excusing the man.
Story said he doubts jury service would cause the man to be fired, but the judge added, “I guarantee if he does lose his job he’ll blame you and me. We’ll have one unhappy juror.â€?
Another potential juror, a middle-aged white woman who said she was afraid of driving in downtown Atlanta, was qualified over defense objections.
“I believe where there’s smoke, there’s fire,� she wrote, a point brought up by Martin as to why she should be excused. “I figure it looks bad. I don’t think he was honest.�
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