Attorneys Question Potential Jurors In Kerrick Trial

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CHARLOTTE, NC — Jury selection in the Wes Kerrick trial enters day three on Wednesday.  Attorneys are using a specially created questionnaire to help them sort through the potential jurors.  As WCCB Charlotte’s Amy Cowman reports, attorneys want to find out what people know about other police shootings across the country.

One by one potential jurors entered the courtroom and were asked by the judge if they expected the long length of this trial, potentially months, to cause personal hardship for them.  Several jurors expressed extreme financial hardship and where dismissed.  Those who didn’t were grilled by the state and defense lawyers.

All jurors filled out 44 questions ahead of time to help speed up the selection process.  Three of the questions focused on how much they had read and seen about other police shootings like Ferguson, Charleston, and others.  The questionnaire then asked if they had an opinion of police based on those incidents, and if that would impact them being able to be a fair juror to both sides, or if they had already formed an opinion of Kerrick’s guilt or innocence.  The judge dismissed one juror after the defense found an anti-police posting on her Facebook page.  

If jurors made it past the initial questioning, they were taken to a holding room until 12 were approved.  At the end of court Tuesday, 12 jurors were selected.  Wednesday, they will come back in for a second more intense round of questioning that lawyers sat could take up to an hour per juror, in which ore could be dismissed.