Troiani Jury Selection Is Moving Quickly

Jury selection in the prolonged Laura Troiani murder case in Vista Superior Court goes into its fourth day today with the process proceeding more quickly than expected.

By Wednesday afternoon, 70 prospective jurors out of about 170 questioned so far said they would have the time to hear the trial, which is expected to last until about Oct. 1.

Superior Court Judge Gilbert Nares is excusing prospective jurors who have pleaded financial or family hardship if asked to serve on a jury into the fall. Prospective jurors who said they would not be paid by their employer for more than two weeks’ jury duty have been told by Nares to return to court with a letter from their employer stating company jury policy.

Ability to Serve

One prospective juror told Nares he was a company president and would need permission from the chairman of the board to serve longer than two weeks.

And a woman presented a letter from her boss saying that if she were on jury duty that long, he would have to replace her with someone else. That prompted defense attorney Tom Bowden to ask Nares to place sanctions on employers who threaten their employees with the loss of a job for accepting jury duty. Nares rejected the motion, saying the employer was willing to at least grant his employee two weeks jury duty.

A number of potential jurors were excused for medical reasons or because they needed to take care of young children or elderly spouses.

The selection process so far has only tackled the problem of the ability to serve from a time standpoint. Those who are so-called “time-qualified” will return to the courtroom in June to be asked their views on the death penalty. Candidates who say they are willing to impose the death penalty should Troiani be convicted in the murder of her husband, Carlo Troiani, will then be subjected to questioning by both the prosecution and defense to determine any biases for or against Troiani or the district attorney’s office, or whether they have been affected by pretrial publicity.

Troiani, 25, is charged with planning the shooting death of her husband on Aug. 10, 1984, on a deserted street in Oceanside. Also charged with the murder are five men, all Marines at the time, who will stand trial separately after Troiani’s trial is completed.

The prosecution contends that Troiani hired the five for $500 each to kill her husband of five years, so that she could receive his $95,000 life insurance policy and marry one of the suspects who was her lover.

Speaking Up

Some prospective jurors have discussed more than the issue of time.

One man said he had the time to serve but added hastily, “I’ve had a brother who was murdered. The killers were never found, and I’m very much in favor of the death penalty . . . . “

Before he could go further, Nares interrupted him and ordered him to simply fill out a 10-page questionnaire, which probes personal background and possible biases.

Another man, excused from the courtroom to fill out the questionnaire but seemingly intent in telling Nares he might be found unqualified to serve, offered, “I’ve been on many, many jury panels and I’ve never been on one (jury). I’ve always been wiped out.”

And another prospective juror let it be known he considered jury duty as “punishment” and he had no desire to serve. When Nares pressed the man for a reason why he didn’t want to serve, the man said, “I have a garden and I have to water it.” Attorneys for both sides agreed to excuse him from jury duty.

Prosecuting attorney Paul Pfingst said about 200 “time-qualified” candidates probably will be needed from which to find 12 jurors and four alternates.

Nares said the trial will be held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, with two short breaks. There will be no trial days on Fridays, when Nares handles divorce cases.

The trial is expected to begin in late July or early August and last about 2 1/2 months. Troiani is being held without bail in the County Jail at Las Colinas in Santee