By Seamus McGraw
July 10, 2006
FARGO, N.D. (Crime Library) — The guilt phase of Alfonzo Rodriguez' trial has just barely begun, but prospective jurors are already being asked to consider the possibility that their verdict might send the 53-year-old convicted sex offender to his death for the 2003 kidnapping and murder of 22-year-old Dru Sjodin.
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| Dru Sjodin |
"When we start talking about punishment before the trial, it seems odd," U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson reportedly told one prospective juror as the sometimes contentious process of jury selection in federal district court in Fargo began late last week, adding what the judge described as an "Alice Through the Looking Glass" aspect to the proceedings.
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| Alfonzo Rodriguez, Jr. |
Under federal law, jurors do not determine penalties — that is solely up to the judge. But federal prosecutors have said that they plan to seek the death penalty against Rodriquez, and that has prompted Richard Ney, Rodriquez' court appointed defense attorney to take a take a particularly hard look at prospective jurors in the hopes of winnowing out those who may have already convicted Rodriquez in their minds, and decided that the convicted sex offender is fit for execution.
It has been slow going and the process has already been marred by glitches.
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