WHITE CO., Ill.—Despite apparent difficulties during jury selection this morning in the case of Candice Brown in White County, both the state and the defense have told the judge in the case that they anticipate they may make announcements of their choices as soon as they take up after lunch.
Candice Brown
Brown, 31, is awaiting a jury trial to kick off immediately following selection on her two counts of Obstruction of Justice as they relate to alleged cover up in the murders her boyfriend/babydaddy, Danny Coston, committed in August 2012 against Jacob Wheeler, 22, and Jessi Evans, 17. Brown is accused of lying to authorities about the whereabouts of Coston on the night in question.
Jury selection has gone through two panels, wherein of the first, it’s anticipated that three potential jurors will be booted; and of the second, lots of people are stating they would be conflicted sitting on Brown’s jury. This, they’ve told attorneys during voir dire questioning, is because they don’t feel they can separate Brown’s case from Coston’s, and judge the case on its own merits. In other words, their prejudices against the Coston case overrides their ability to see Brown’s case simply for what it is: That it’s only about her allegedly lying to authorities, and not somehow being more directly connected to the deaths of the two young people.
Another point of contention the potential jurors have stated during voir dire is that they don’t like the fact that Brown won’t testify on her own behalf. The Fifth Amendment gives her the Constitutional right to remain silent and not face questioning from either the prosecution or the defense. Several jurors have stated outright, however, that they believe she SHOULD be questioned openly, thus they believe it’d be a conflict if they served, as they couldn’t get past that notion.
Hamilton County Judge Barry Vaughn has been brought into White County on the case, and has reportedly kept the mood light, cracking wise a couple of times before selection kicked off at precisely 9:25. Brown, who is originally from Wayne County, is being represented by Matt Vaughan of Fairfield. It’s unclear just what her defense is going to primarily consist of. We are aware that a DVD-recorded interview of her allegedly lying to authorities is planned to be played during trial. Denton Aud is handling the case for the state.
Everyone returned to the courtroom at 1:30; we anticipate we’ll be hearing from Jade again in the 4 o’clock hour; be watching for updates.