The same jury — minus one — that convicted William Maurice Woodard of murdering two DeKalb police officers will return Tuesday to decide if he lives or dies.
Before the sentencing phase of the murder trial began Monday, DeKalb Superior Court Judge Daniel Coursey sent a juror home for attempting to communicate with District Attorney Robert James, a spokesman for the DA’s office told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. James reported the incident to the judge, who excused the juror, Erik Burton, spokesman for the DA, said Monday.
“While there was no conversation between the two parties, any attempted contact must be reported to the court,” Burton said.
It took the jury about seven hours Friday to convict Woodard, 31, in the deaths of two DeKalb County officers in January 2008. The jury must now decide whether Woodard deserves the death penalty for killing Officers Ricky Bryant Jr. and Eric Barker following a traffic stop.
The sentencing phase could last several days, with prosecutors anticipating calling dozens of witnesses to the stand.
The last person to receive the death sentence in DeKalb County was Clayton Jerrod Ellington, convicted in 2006 in the hammer-attack deaths of his wife and 2-year-old twin sons. Ellington remains on death row.
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