OCBob
VIPER POWERED
Too bad that I am not in Florida, or allowed to serve on a jury. I would be both fair and impartial and listen to all the evidence in this case before I found the scumbag guilty and voted for the death penalty. Though to tell the truth I would rather see him get life and get thrown out on the yard, I know there are some guys on the yard that would make sure that he got a taste of some cruel and unusual punishment before he drew his last breath.
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A Florida judge halted jury selection Thursday in the trial of a sex offender accused of kidnapping 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford and burying her alive, saying an impartial jury can't be found so close to her home.
Circuit Judge Ric Howard had already moved jury selection to Lake County, about 50 miles east of Homosassa, Florida, because of publicity surrounding the case.
On Thursday, after attorneys had spent three days trying to find jurors who hadn't been exposed to news reports about the case, Howard declared they were still too close to find an impartial jury.
It wasn't clear if he would shift only the jury selection process or move the entire trial.
John Evander Couey, 47, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, sexual battery on a child, kidnapping and burglary in the girl's death.
Jessica's body was found last about a month after she disappeared from her home near the mobile home where Couey had been living.
Her hands were tied with speaker wire and her fingers poked through the garbage bags in which authorities say she was buried alive.
The case sparked new laws requiring lifetime electronic monitoring from some sex offenders and significantly increased the penalties for others who target children.
Couey's taped confession -- which Howard recently ruled can't be used at his trial -- and other details of the case received widespread national media coverage. According to court records, Couey told investigators he took the girl from her room, raped her, swaddled her in garbage bags and buried her in the yard.
Prosecutors say they are confident physical evidence and other statements Couey has made will be enough to convict him and secure a death sentence.
**************************************************
A Florida judge halted jury selection Thursday in the trial of a sex offender accused of kidnapping 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford and burying her alive, saying an impartial jury can't be found so close to her home.
Circuit Judge Ric Howard had already moved jury selection to Lake County, about 50 miles east of Homosassa, Florida, because of publicity surrounding the case.
On Thursday, after attorneys had spent three days trying to find jurors who hadn't been exposed to news reports about the case, Howard declared they were still too close to find an impartial jury.
It wasn't clear if he would shift only the jury selection process or move the entire trial.
John Evander Couey, 47, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, sexual battery on a child, kidnapping and burglary in the girl's death.
Jessica's body was found last about a month after she disappeared from her home near the mobile home where Couey had been living.
Her hands were tied with speaker wire and her fingers poked through the garbage bags in which authorities say she was buried alive.
The case sparked new laws requiring lifetime electronic monitoring from some sex offenders and significantly increased the penalties for others who target children.
Couey's taped confession -- which Howard recently ruled can't be used at his trial -- and other details of the case received widespread national media coverage. According to court records, Couey told investigators he took the girl from her room, raped her, swaddled her in garbage bags and buried her in the yard.
Prosecutors say they are confident physical evidence and other statements Couey has made will be enough to convict him and secure a death sentence.
I'd love to see where they are going to find an "impartial" jury, because if this guy gets off somethings wrong with the justice system big time.....
