Hudson deaths: Jury selection on
Source: Agencies |
April 10, 2012, Tuesday
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A JUDGE will question would-be jurors as jury selection began in earnest yesterday at the Chicago trial of the man accused of murdering singer and Oscar winning actress Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew.
Hudson, who was not in Chicago at the time of the killings, told investigators she was in touch with her mother almost every day and became concerned when she couldn't reach her by late morning on October 24, 2008.
Hours later, the bodies of her mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and brother, Jason Hudson, 29, were found shot to death in the family home. The body of her 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, was found days later in a sport utility vehicle several kilometers away.
Selecting 12 jurors and six alternates able to set aside sympathy for the Hollywood star and assess guilt only according to evidence presented in court against William Balfour could pose a major challenge.
It's expected to take two or three days to make final selections from among 150 prospective jurors. In a last step, each side can use preemptive strikes, usually around ten, to dismiss people from the jury pool without giving reason.
Judge Charles Burns will aim to weed out anyone who might be swayed by the 30-year-old Hudson's celebrity, though he's unlikely to automatically exclude Hudson fans if they can convince him their biases won't affect their deliberations.
Even at trials where celebrity doesn't loom as a factor, jury selection is critical. A lone holdout during deliberations on a verdict can lead to a hung jury, forcing a retrial.
If convicted, Balfour, who is also 30, faces a maximum life sentence. Burns told would-be jurors last week that anyone opposed to capital punishment need not worry because the state of Illinois abolished the death penalty this year.
Hudson, who was not in Chicago at the time of the killings, told investigators she was in touch with her mother almost every day and became concerned when she couldn't reach her by late morning on October 24, 2008.
Hours later, the bodies of her mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and brother, Jason Hudson, 29, were found shot to death in the family home. The body of her 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, was found days later in a sport utility vehicle several kilometers away.
Selecting 12 jurors and six alternates able to set aside sympathy for the Hollywood star and assess guilt only according to evidence presented in court against William Balfour could pose a major challenge.
It's expected to take two or three days to make final selections from among 150 prospective jurors. In a last step, each side can use preemptive strikes, usually around ten, to dismiss people from the jury pool without giving reason.
Judge Charles Burns will aim to weed out anyone who might be swayed by the 30-year-old Hudson's celebrity, though he's unlikely to automatically exclude Hudson fans if they can convince him their biases won't affect their deliberations.
Even at trials where celebrity doesn't loom as a factor, jury selection is critical. A lone holdout during deliberations on a verdict can lead to a hung jury, forcing a retrial.
If convicted, Balfour, who is also 30, faces a maximum life sentence. Burns told would-be jurors last week that anyone opposed to capital punishment need not worry because the state of Illinois abolished the death penalty this year.
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