PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Jury selection for the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial is almost complete.
The long selection process is coming to an end and it appears there will be a jury selected Thursday to begin the trial on Tuesday of next week.
Legal experts say the trial could be won or lost in the jury selection phase.
It’s been an intensive process. The courts sent out 1,500 questionnaires, and after interviewing more than 200 potential jurors, the two sides whittled them down to a pool of 69 jurors. On Thursday, they began the final paring with the aim of seating 12 jurors and six alternates.
There is little doubt about the guilt of the defendant. What is in question is whether he will face the death penalty. The prosecution is looking for jurors who would be most likely to impose the death penalty and the defense is looking for those more likely to spare the defendant’s life.
To that end, each side can reject or strike 20 of these potential jurors, and it appears they are nearing the end of that process and will have a jury later Thursday.