By  Seamus McGraw

(Continued)

advertisement

Fishing deep in the jury pool

So far, district court officials have summoned some 125 potential jurors to be interviewed for a seat on the jury. That number, officials have said, represents about half the number summoned in an average year to possibly hear felony cases in the county. Several have already been excused because of financial problems, vacation plans or because they are over 70 years old and entitled to an automatic exemption.

Officials in Mathews have said they may summon additional residents to make sure that prosecutors and defense attorneys have a sufficient number from which to cull a jury.

But just how closely those potential jurors will be vetted also has become an issue in the case.

Last week, Judge William H. Shaw rejected a motion by defense attorneys Chris Collins and William E. Johnson to provide each potential juror with a questionnaire, designed to gauge how much each knows about the high-profile case, and to ferret out any possible connections between jurors and witnesses. While the judge acknowledged that the information gleaned from the questionnaire would probably be useful, he fretted that it might focus undue attention on the would-be jurors.

Judge William H. Shaw

Shaw also rejected a defense motion to bar any mention of Fawley's alleged prior bad acts, though he did admonish prosecutors in their opening statements to steer clear of any mention of Fawley's prior assault convictions or the pending allegations that he trafficked in child pornography.

Ben Fawley

Fawley's trial is slated to begin Aug. 17, though county officials say they have left open one date later this month for last-minute motions. So far, none have been filed, officials said.

Previous Page

See Full Coverage of Taylor Behl Case

See Message Board

For more daily crime news