19 Out of 21 Potential Black Jurors excused in Klansman James Ford Seale Trial
By Jerry Mitchell
from the Clarion Ledger [HERE]
jmitchell@clarionledger.com
The pool of potential jurors for the federal kidnapping and conspiracy trial of reputed Klansman James Ford Seale that began with 76 this morning is down to 55.
By early afternoon, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate had excused 21 potential jurors for hardships or other reasons.
"You are being asked to perform one of the highest duties of citizenship, to sit in judgment on facts that will determine guilt or innocence,” Wingate told the potential jurors at the James O. Eastland Federal Courthouse in Jackson.
Seale is charged in connection with the 1964 abductions, beatings and slayings of two African-American teens.
Of the 76 potential jurors, 19 were African American. By the afternoon, two of the 19 were among those excused.
Unlike in past trials, the potential jurors’ names are not being disclosed. The potential jurors were asked to make sure their names matched up with an assigned number.
Several of the potential jurors sought to be excused. One was a state trooper. Another has a husband with Alzheimer’s, and she said she needs to take care of him. Another is a farmer with six chicken houses and only part-time help. Another lives with her mother and takes care of her. Another is a self-employed advertising agent.
Roughly 300 summonses were sent out to prospective jurors in Seale's trial, and about 120 were returned. The potential jurors were summoned from the 45 counties of the Southern District, which stretches from Holmes County in the north down to the Gulf Coast.
Seale is charged in connection with the May 2, 1964, killings of Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore. The two black teens were abducted from Meadville, beaten in the Homochitto National Forest and tied to a Jeep motor block before being thrown into the Mississippi River, where they drowned, according to FBI documents.
The selection of a jury could take all week, a defense attorney said.
U.S. Department of Justice attorney Paige Fitzgerald said in court papers that after general questioning of potential jurors, questioning of individual jurors should be done in the judge's chambers outside the presence of other jurors and the media.
"Allowing a juror to answer questions in the relative privacy of the court's chambers, out of the presence of other jurors and out of the presence of the press, is necessary to encourage complete and honest communication from individual jurors concerning sensitive subjects," Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald sought the anonymous jury for the trial because she said Seale has participated in a group with the capacity to harm jurors. Seale has denied being affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan.
Testimony isn't expected to begin until next week.
Defense attorneys said they have not decided whether they will call witnesses
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