Judge Cites Publicity in Halting Jury Selection
The judge halted jury selection in the trial of a sex offender accused of kidnapping 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford and burying her alive, saying it was difficult to find jurors who hadn’t been exposed to media reports or other discussions of the case.
Circuit Judge Ric Howard had already moved jury selection to Lake County, about 50 miles east of Homosassa, where Jessica lived and was killed, because of publicity about the case.
After attorneys spent three days trying to find jurors who hadn’t been exposed to news reports about the case, Howard declared they were still too nearby to find an impartial jury and said the case had to be moved farther away.
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