Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Potential jurors selected for Morva
William Morva's defense attorneys have argued the trial should be moved, citing media coverage.
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CHRISTIANSBURG -- After a day of jury selection in William Morva's capital murder trial, only nine potential jurors had been seated, compared with 22 dismissals.
The numbers leave the door open for a potential change of venue, though if the selection pace continues over the next day or so, it's possible a jury pool will be set.
Morva's defense attorneys have argued that the trial should be moved, citing extensive media coverage.
But more than half of those who were excused Monday from jury duty cited reasons other than pretrial publicity, from doctor appointments to their close ties to people involved in the case.
The court needs to seat 24 potential jurors to have a jury of 12 plus two alternates -- minus five strikes each for the prosecution and the defense.
Attorney Tom Blaylock renewed his motion for a change of venue Monday, which Circuit Court Judge Ray Grubbs took under advisement, as he has done in previous motions hearings. Blaylock cited a WDBJ (Channel 7) 90-minute live news broadcast that aired on Virginia Tech's first day of school this year. It was Tech's first day last year, Aug. 21, when the university canceled classes during a manhunt for Morva. He had escaped from custody the day before.
Morva is accused of knocking out a deputy who had escorted him to Montgomery Regional Hospital to be treated for injuries suffered in a fall, taking the deputy's gun and shooting two people.
The 25-year-old Blacksburg man is charged with three counts of capital murder in the deaths of hospital security guard Derrick McFarland and Cpl. Eric Sutphin of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. He faces a third count because he is accused of killing more than one person in fewer than three years.
Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times
William Morva listens as the possibility of the death penalty or possible life in prison is discussed by Judge Ray Grubbs and attorneys during the fist day of jury selection in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Christiansburg Va. Monday September 15 2007.
Morva is also charged with two counts of using a firearm in the commission of murder, assault and battery of a law enforcement officer and escaping with force.
Wearing a shirt and tie and standing with arms crossed, Morva shook his head as he pleaded "not guilty" to the charges Monday in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
If Morva is convicted of any of the counts of capital murder, he faces one of two possible penalties: life in prison without parole; or death.
That kept several people from making it into the jury pool Monday.
Two said they were against the death penalty and would refuse to consider it as an option. A few others said they would automatically impose the death penalty if they found Morva guilty of willful, premeditated murder.
Thirteen were dismissed after saying they wouldn't be able to give Morva a fair trial, either because they have already formed opinions about his guilt or because of their close ties to people involved in the case.
Of those, one said he went to Blacksburg High School with Morva. Another was Montgomery Regional Hospital spokeswoman Suzanne Barnette, who handled media inquiries about the escape and McFarland's shooting.
Nine cited reasons that had nothing to do with the content of the case or the people involved in it. Most of those said they couldn't sit through a trial that could last up to three weeks, citing school, vacation, doctor appointments, child care issues or discomfort from recent surgery.
Prosecutors Brad Finch and Mary Pettitt and defense attorneys Blaylock and Tony Anderson thoroughly questioned potential jurors, and Grubbs let some go "out of an abundance of caution," he said.
It was a Pulaski County case that set the precedent in Virginia for jury selection.
In 2002, the Virginia Supreme Court found that Pulaski County Circuit Judge Colin Gibb erred in denying defense attorneys' request for a change of venue in the murder trial of Jeffrey Allen Thomas, who was sentenced to death for shooting 16-year-old Tara Rose Munsey.
In that case, 47 out of 104 potential jurors said they could not be impartial. Thirty-three of those said they believed Thomas was guilty.
Justices ruled that Thomas should get a new trial because of the difficulties in seating a jury.
Jury selection in Morva's case continues this morning.
