Jury Selection for Kraft Trial Gets Off to a Running Start

Prospective jurors in the Randy Steven Kraft murder trial were examined at such a rapid pace Monday, the first day of general questioning, that the judge speculated that a jury may be selected by the end of court business today.

Nearly 150 people crowded into Superior Court Judge Donald A. McCartin’s Santa Ana courtroom for potential jury service in the trial. All but a few had already been screened individually on their views about the death penalty.

Kraft, a 43-year-old Long Beach computer consultant, is charged with 16 murders of young men. But prosecutors say they will include another 21 murders they believe Kraft committed--including six in Oregon and two in Michigan--as possible evidence to seek a death-penalty verdict.

The defendant, who was dressed in a white shirt and tie and had a blue sweater rolled up beside him, listened intently to the day’s proceedings. He whispered with his attorney, C. Thomas McDonald, to confer about each potential juror.

Unprecedented in the State

The Kraft case is unprecedented. No one in the state has ever been of accused in court of so many killings. The trial, expected to be the most expensive the county has ever seen, may also end up the longest. The judge has said it could take up to a year just to present the evidence.

Court administrators initially summoned 12,000 residents to be on call to serve as jurors. The defense had predicted that the jury selection process could take up to six months. But in less than two months, McCartin’s efforts have whittled that number down to those in the courtroom Monday.

McCartin’s courtroom was filled with laughter much of the day Monday. The judge, who acknowledged to the audience that the process is tedious, tried to keep the atmosphere loose with constant, good-natured jibes with the attorneys and even some prospective jurors.

“Just think of this as a lottery,” McCartin said, as their names were pulled from a small drum to sit in the jury box for the first round of questions.

Kraft’s lawyers continued to say that their client cannot get a fair trial if a single jury is faced with that many murders. Nevertheless, McDonald said after court Monday that the jury will probably be selected in the next day or two.

Questioning by Each Side

The first 12 people seated in the jury box by random selection were put through a brief round of questioning by the judge and attorneys from each side. Deputy Dist. Atty. Bryan F. Brown announced afterward that he would accept all 12 for the Kraft jury.

McDonald, however, began to use peremptory challenges to exclude some of them.

The judge has given each side 26 peremptory challenges to exclude jurors they believe might not give their side a fair hearing. McDonald used seven by the end of the day. Brown used two.

McDonald said after the session that he might use all of his 26 challenges.

“The problem is that so many of these people have been exposed to media stories about the case,” McDonald said.

The defense is scheduled Friday to ask again for a change of venue to try the case in another county. The defense lawyers maintain that publicity about the Kraft case in Orange County will prevent him from receiving a fair trial.

McDonald used three peremptories to exclude people who knew many people in law enforcement, either through their spouses or their own careers.

Others were excused, McDonald said, because of answers they had given previously about their exposure to the case through news reports.

Death-Penalty Factor

Brown used a peremptory challenge to remove a woman who had indicated earlier that she is uncomfortable with the death penalty.

Lawyers for each side were consistent with their questions. Brown said he is concerned that some jurors might end up blaming “the system” if the trial went on month after month. He wanted to know who among them have anything more than a parking ticket on their records, or if any of them have reason to dislike the police.

He also talked at length about the meaning of circumstantial evidence.

McDonald questioned prospective jurors extensively about whether they might form an opinion about his client’s guilt during the long months of the prosecution’s case, then not be open-minded by the time the defense presents its side.

He also emphasized that the defense is not under any obligation to put on evidence, that it may be enough for the jury simply to find large holes in the prosecution’s case.

McDonald asked one woman whether she could vote not guilty if the defense put on no case at all. “You mean not ever?” she asked in surprise, cracking up people in the courtroom, including lawyers and the judge.

The judge required each prospective juror to write down answers to a general list of preliminary questions about themselves and have it ready if called.

The judge spent nearly an hour talking with the audience before questions began. He warned prospective jurors about reading news accounts about the case. He also forbade them to investigate the case themselves.

Don’t Consult Dictionaries

“If you hear us talk about ‘malice aforethought,’ don’t go home to your Webster’s dictionary and look it up,” the judge said.

The judge also read the names of more than 240 prosecution witnesses and asked each prospective juror whether they recognized any of the names.

He also told candidates not to be offended if lawyers from either side excused them from the jury box.

“It may be they just don’t like the color of your hair,” the judge said. “Don’t take it personally.”

A few people made mild complaints about the tedious selection process. Several people brought books to read. One woman sketched an imaginary mountain range while she listened. Another completed a detailed sketch of the defendant looking toward the jury box.

For many, it was a fourth appearance in the Kraft case. McCartin had ordered candidates two months ago to fill out a questionnaire answering whether they would have to claim a hardship. Many of them then returned to court to explain their answers in the questionnaire. They returned again to be questioned alone by the judge and attorneys.

It was during the individual questioning that McDonald asked each of them two questions important to the defense: How much had they read about the Kraft case? Would they have any bias against Kraft because he is gay?

Prosecutor Sees Good Mix

Prosecutor Brown said after court Monday that he is pleased with the selection progress. He said he agreed to the first 12 people in the box because it appeared to be a good mix of people he thought could be fair to both sides.

Defense attorney McDonald answered, “We may not know if this process is going to work until after the trial is over.”

McCartin told the audience that once testimony in the case begins, he will probably hold court five days a week one week, then take a Friday off the next week to give them all a break. He also announced that the trial would take a 10-day holiday at Christmastime.

Court administrators will assign special parking places for Kraft jurors once they are selected.

Besides the 12 people on the jury, McCartin has indicated that he will select eight alternate jurors. Lawyers on each side will be allowed one peremptory challenge per alternate.