Attorneys wade through potential juror pool
Trial for 2014 officer shooting scheduled
to begin in February
Just days after a judge denied his request to deem the state's death penalty statute unconstitutional, the attorneys for a man charged with fatally shooting a Gary police officer began examining potential jurors Thursday.
One by one, people were called into Judge Samuel Cappas' courtroom, where the defense and prosecution teams sorted through concerns about the person serving on a jury based on answers they filled out on a preliminary questionnaire.
Carl Le'Ellis Blount, 27, sat to the right of his attorneys as they sifted through the list of potential jurors. Blount has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge filed in the July 2014 death of Gary police Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield.
The attorneys focused on basic questions Thursday to see if a person should be exempt from the jury process, such as looking at language barriers that would prevent them from understanding what was happening in the courtroom. They also looked for potential conflicts of interest, including if a person knew potential witnesses or Blount, or if being on a jury could impact a person's livelihood or health if they had to be sequestered during a trial.
The question of whether a person could be impartial or fair came up a couple of times, particularly because of a person's religious convictions. Given the possibility of the death penalty in the case, some potential jurors expressed concerns they could not even consider sentencing someone to death.
While some people were dismissed, others were selected to move forward in the process and will receive longer questionnaires in the mail in the coming weeks.
Blount's trial, which prosecutors estimate could last a few weeks, is scheduled to have opening statements Feb. 27, with jury selection starting in late January. Before then, Blount has another hearing scheduled Dec. 2 to check in on his case.
This week, Cappas denied motions made by Blount's attorneys and the counsel for Darren Vann, who also is facing a death sentence in Lake County on charges in connection with the deaths of seven women, that the Indiana death penalty statute is unconstitutional.
Blount's defense team has been preparing for trial in recent months. Earlier this week, they filed notice of an alibi, claiming Blount was at the home of a family member in Gary from the early morning until his arrest in the afternoon on the day of the shooting in 2014.
