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Thursday, September 7, 2006
Corbin judge excuses 12 more
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gwinnett Superior Court Judge Michael Clark today excused another 12 potential jurors — seven men and five women — from participation in the Corbin murder trial. The 12 additional jurors excused from service were among 17 who were questioned today in a hearing to determine their eligibility.
Five of those 17 will be part of the jury pool that will receive questionnaires on Friday. More than 600 people received jury summonses in the trial. Potential jurors were told today that the trial is expected to start Sept. 25 and there could be two to three weeks of testimony.
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Corbin judge considers jury excuses
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Of the 100 potential jurors who asked to be excused from the Corbin murder trial, 17 people will participate this afternoon in a hearing to determine whether they have a legitimate reason not to serve. Jury summonses were sent to 675 people. About 100 people had excuses for not wanting to participate in the trial. Those with legitimate excuses, including three convicted felons, a dead man, and people over age 70 were automatically excused. A convicted felon can’t serve on a jury unless their rights to do so have been restored. In Georgia, people over age 70 have the option to be excused from jury duty.
Gwinnett Superior Court Judge Michael Clark also excused 10 people who could not serve because they were the primary care provider for a child age 6 or under.
Other reasons jurors gave for wanting to be excused included medical and work-related reasons.
Of the 100 people with excuses, the judge said 41 were questionable and 59 were accepted. Attorneys agreed to only question 17 of the 41 about their inability to serve.
Attorneys say this afternoon’s hearing for those 17 people could take about two hours. Barton Corbin is charged with murder. His wife was found dead in their Buford home from a bullet to the head on Dec. 4, 2004.
Corbin also is charged with murder in the 1990 shooting death of his girlfriend, Dorothy “Dolly” Hearn. The two were graduate students at the Medical College of Georgia.
Corbin says he is innocent in both cases. His attorneys contend both women committed suicide. Corbin’s mother, Constance “Connie” Corbin and a brother were at the court today.
The scene at the courtroom today was calm.
Those jurors who have no legal reason to be excused from service will be in court at 9:30 a.m. Friday. Several meeting rooms at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, including the Gwinnett county commission meeting room, have been reserved because of the large number of potential jurors expected.
On Friday, the potential jurors will be given the jury questionnaire, which has over 100 questions. They will fill that out in court and leave it for attorneys to review over the weekend.
Attorneys said they expect that some people won’t show up tomorrow and the Sheriff’s Department will go after those people. “They always do,” said Gwinnett District Attorney Danny Porter.
The first panel of jurors, about 12 to 14 people, will be brought in Monday to determine if they will be selected for a jury spot. Jury selection is expected to last two weeks. The trial is expected to run until late October.
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