News
10/19/2009 - Larry Langford trial: Jury to be pulled from 10 counties
By Robert K. Gordon -- The Birmingham News
October 19, 2009, 6:14AM
Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford leaves the federal courthouse in December 2008 after the announcement of a 101-count federal criminal indictment against Langford, Montgomery investment banker Bill Blount and lobbyist Al LaPierre. In April, the SEC filed a federal civil suit against Langford, Blount and LaPierre, alleging a pay-for-play scheme in county sewer bond deals. (The Birmingham News / Linda Stelter) The jury that hears Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford's federal corruption trial won't include any Birmingham residents. That's because the trial was moved from Birmingham to Tuscaloosa.
Langford's attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler to move the trial because they believed pretrial publicity would be detrimental to Langford.
Had the trial remained here, jurors would have been selected from Jefferson, Shelby and Blount counties. Instead, the panel will be pulled from a 10-county district. Moving the trial to Tuscaloosa will increase the likelihood that the panel will include jurors from more rural areas who may not know as much about the case.
The case is expected to last two weeks. Here's some information on jury selection, which is expected to begin today.
From what counties will jurors come from? Jurors will now be chosen from the Northern District's western division. Counties in that division are Tuscaloosa, Bibb, Greene, Pickens, Marion, Winston, Lamar, Fayette, Walker and Sumter.
How many will be on the jury panel? More than 100 prospective jurors have been summoned to the courthouse. Prospective jurors are chosen from lists based on voter registration.
How many jurors will be seated? It's unclear at this point. Twelve jurors will deliberate the case, but more than 12 jurors will be seated. The alternates are randomly selected. Alternates won't know who they are until after the case has been presented.
Will the jury be sequestered? It's unlikely. Once seated, jurors are instructed to stay away from anything related to the case they're hearing and from talking about it with family and friends. Sequestering the jury wouldn't even be entertained by the judge unless one side requested it.
How will attorneys narrow the pool? Those with personal knowledge or bias or tainted by pretrial publicity are the first ones cut. Once a qualified panel is obtained, lawyers then use peremptory strikes, meaning jurors can be eliminated for any reason as long as it is not for race or gender. Either side can move to strike someone for a specific reason, such as bias. The judge then decides whether to exclude the person. There is no limit on strikes for cause. The judge gives each side a particular number of peremptory strikes. Typically, prosecutors would get six and the defense would get 10. With a larger jury pool, the judge can increase those numbers.
Source: al.com