Strohmeyer jury selection begins

More than 15 months after 7-year-old Sherrice Iverson was raped and murdered in a Primm casino, the first panel of 50 prospective jurors was ushered into court today for the trial of Jeremy Strohmeyer.

About 190 people are being called in for what is expected to be a weeklong jury-selection process in Chief District Judge Myron Leavitt's courtroom. The 12 jurors and six alternates will be sequestered in a downtown hotel when the trial is not in session.

Their task will be to determine whether Strohmeyer, 19, is guilty of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and murdering the Los Angeles second-grader in a women's restroom at the Primm Valley hotel-casino on the California-Nevada border.

If the Long Beach, Calif., native is found guilty of first-degree murder, the jury also will decide whether he gets the death penalty or is sentenced to prison for life with or without the possibility of parole.

For the lawyers, the job now is to select a jury that each believes will be most open to their position and arguments. The attorneys do that by delving into the potential panelists' backgrounds and beliefs on a variety of issues and their knowledge of the case itself.

Nearly 400 prospective jurors completed questionnaires a month ago to help the lawyers in this selection process. The answers they gave, plus hardships and scheduling conflicts over being sequestered for five or six weeks, already has resulted in more than half of those being excused.

Others are expected to be excused after questioning by the lawyers if answers indicate they may not be fair or impartial. In addition, each side is given six "challenges" under Nevada law to excuse any jurors they may not want on the jury for tactical or other -- not including racial -- reasons.

The jury-selection process also is a time for attorneys to begin establishing a relationship with those who will have the ultimate voice in the case. As a result, the attitudes and approaches of the lawyers are expected to change.

Pretrial hearings over evidence to be allowed at trial invariably were bitterly fought by lawyers, and there were the occasional verbal attacks that drew warnings from the judge.

Before the jury, however, attorneys are expected to be on their best and most charming behavior.

Aside from the jury panel, only accredited media will be allowed in the courtroom during the jury-selection process, although it will be broadcast live by Court TV and Las Vegas 1, Prime Cable channels 1 and 39.

The jurors are not being identified by name to prevent any chance of outside influence affecting the trial. In addition, security at the courthouse is being tightened. Anyone entering the courtroom will have to pass through a second metal detector and X-ray scanner.

On Friday, Leavitt told a meeting of more than 20 journalists that the court system is willing to cooperate so that the story of the trial can be told, but he cautioned that his first priority is to ensure a fair trial.

Leavitt has predicted the trial itself will last five to six weeks.

The prosecution, with District Attorney Stewart Bell personally heading the case, will be telling the jury of Strohmeyer's three confessions to police and other confessions to friends.

There also is videotape evidence showing Strohmeyer and his friend, David Cash Jr., entering and leaving the women's restroom where Iverson's body was found. Cash, who was not charged, has been a key prosecution witness.

Defense attorneys have suggested that Strohmeyer's state of mind will be at issue in the trial along with the genetic consequences of having a birth mother with mental illnesses and a birth father with a criminal past. Strohmeyer was adopted as a toddler.

Los Angeles defense attorney Leslie Abramson has stated in pretrial hearings that psychological testing indicated the teenager did not have the ability at Primm on May 25, 1997, to form the intent to kill that is legally necessary for the imposition of the death penalty.

The defense also is expected to delve into Strohmeyer's diagnosed attention-deficit disorder, for which he was prescribed drugs that he used in an apparent suicide attempt as police closed in.

TAGLINE: WATCH LAS VEGAS 1 tonight beginning at 9 on Prime Cable channels 1 and 39 when Bill Gang will provide the latest developments in the trial. Visit the Sun's website at lasvegassun.com for additional trial coverage.

archive