LAWRENCE CO.—Here’s your newsblast for the day’s end portion of day 2, Tyler McQueen murder trial in Lawrence County.
Defense attorney for Tyler McQueen, Matt Vaughn of Fairfield, who has tried a number of high-profile cases including murder cases such as this one.
We have just wrapped up our second day of jury selection in the Tyler McQueen murder trial.
McQueen is charged with three counts of First Degree Murder in the March 24, 2012 stabbing death of 78-year-old Bob Westall in Westall’s sister’s apartment in United Methodist Village in Lawrenceville.
After interviewing 14 potential jurors today, four were actually selected to be on the jury, one man and three women.
Of the 14, seven were released by agreement and one during a challenge by defense attorney Matt Vaughn of Wayne County.
Reasons for releasing the seven ranged from an area farmer who said he would need to get into his fields if the weather cooperated to one man who said he knew the Westall family, went to school with one of Westall’s sons and would have a problem with a murder case, and even to a woman who said she was originally from Chicago and said: “You don’t take jury duty up there. Someone could get out and you could get hurt.”
The juror who was released on the challenge by defense attorney Vaughn was a female who testified that she knew Bob Westall and that her mother was friends with some of the first people on the scene following his death.
The four selected to be on the jury at the end of today’s interviews included two from yesterday’s list.
We now have eight of the 12 jurors selected and need another six, including two alternates to complete the field.
There are three prospective jurors remaining from today’s interviews who will be considered in the first group tomorrow when the attorneys on both sides weed out their final selections after lunch.
Judge Robert Hopkins has made it clear he expects to seat a jury sometime after lunch tomorrow.
The trial could begin in earnest with opening arguments early as tomorrow afternoon.