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Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Ind. Courts - Prospective juror's outburst during voir dire leads to mistrial
Dionne Waugh reports today in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette:
An Allen Superior Court judge declared a mistrial for an accused murderer Tuesday after a potential juror blurted out that the man had robbed her relative seven years ago.Antwain James Hines, 22, of the 3100 block of South Anthony Boulevard, was scheduled to face a three-day jury trial starting Tuesday, but his attorney asked for and received a mistrial after the woman’s statement.
Attorneys already had spent more than 2 1/2 hours selecting 12 jurors, and the woman was being considered as an alternate during the jury selection process. When asked whether she had any answers to the previously asked questions, the woman said Hines had robbed her nephew, which is why she couldn’t be fair and unbiased.
Ruling that the information could prejudice the jury, which is not supposed to know whether the accused has a prior criminal record, Judge John F. Surbeck granted defense attorney Robert Gevers’ request for a mistrial.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 8, 2007 10:28 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions