Jury selection is to begin Wednesday morning in the death penalty case of a man accused of murdering two off-duty DeKalb County police officers in 2008.
William Woodard and another man were sitting in a parking lot at the Glenwood Gardens apartments Jan. 16, 2008, when off-duty officers Ricky Bryant Jr. and Eric Barker — who worked at the complex — were drawn to the car by the smell of burning marijuana.
According to accounts, Woodard was pulled from the car after he said he didn’t have any identification. There was a struggle. And Woodard allegedly shot the two officers, who were in uniform. Barker, 33, died instantly and Bryant, 26, died at the hospital. Both were married and they each had four children.
Woodard has said he shot in self defense.
Since the case started he has had nine defense attorneys. His legal team tried unsuccessfully to have the the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office disqualified from prosecuting him.
The first judge assigned to the case, Gail Flake, was recused after defense attorneys argued she might favor the prosecution because DA Robert James had secured an indictment against her opponent in the July 21 election; attorney Michael Rothenberg was indicted on charges that he took for himself $400,000 from a $1.3 million investment deal.
Judge Daniel Coursey, assigned to the case for only a few weeks, refused to put off the trial any longer.
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