Don’t they know that Islam is a Religion of Peaceâ„¢?
“Live blog: Prospective jurors fear terrorist retribution in accused underwear bomber trial,” by David Ashenfelter for the Detroit Free Press, October 5 (thanks to Block Ness):
[…] The next prospective juror, who works for a large bank, said he is concerned about serving on the jury because he fears retaliation. He cited a car bombing as an example of retribution. Edmunds tried to assure him that juror names would never be made public.
“I wasn’t aware of that, but I also know it’s a public building and we”d come and go every day,” he said. Edmunds told him he”d be escorted in and out of the building by U.S. Marshals through a separate entrance. He said that was somewhat reassuring and would try not to let his fears get in the way of giving the defendant a fair trial.
Chambers asked that he be excused from jury duty. Edmunds disagreed. He’s the 26th person to be placed in the jury pool.
10:20 a.m. […]We’ve concluded that the Nigerian immigrant is a woman based on her testimony. The challenges of reporting on an anonymous jury selection.
Edmunds just added a 23rd prospective juror, an automotive electrical engineer who said in his jury questionnaire that he as strong opinions against terrorism. He said he watched the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapse on television at work on Sept. 11, 2001. But he said he can be a fair juror. He said he initially thought Abdulmutallab was guilty, but changed his mind after Edmunds met with jurors a few weeks ago when they were called downtown to fill out questionnaires.
From a statistical standpoint, he thinks most defendants are found guilty, but he said the statistics won’t play any part is his mind if selected to serve.
We now have 18 women and five men in the jury pool.
9:31 a.m. […]Edmunds just added another juror, a Nigerian immigrant who said he has no feelings one way or the other about the defendant being Nigerian. “It doesn’t make a difference to me personally,” he told Edmunds.
Unlike many other prospective jurors, this man, a former English professor back home, likes to keep up with the news. Asked he would avoid news if asked to serve, he said: “That’s a tough one.” But he said he can forego coverage of this case if asked to serve. He has only one concern about serving — his name becoming public.
We are watching the proceedings on a close-circuit television feed from her courtroom. We can’t see the prospective jurors, who will serve anonymously if selected. But some of Edmunds” questions have brought responses that would make it fairly easy to identify a couple of potential jurors. Edmunds has ordered reporters to stay away from jurors, a no-brainer for any experienced journalists. Violations can result in contempt citations.
He’s in.
9:17 a.m.