Jury selection is under way for the second time in the Renato Hughes Jr. murder trial. Retired Superior Court Judge William A. McKinstry granted a change of venue in November 2007 after a Lake County jury was seated. The trial, which has drawn national attention, was moved to Contra Costa County in November 2007.
Lake County District Attorney Jon Hopkins, who is prosecuting the case, estimated that he and defense attorney Stuart Hanlon will make opening statements and begin hearing testimony June 10. Approximately 360 potential jurors were called and about a third were excused last week for hardships, according to Hanlon. Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Barbara Zuniga presides over the case.
“I think we can pick a jury by Friday,” Hanlon said.
Hughes, a former San Francisco resident, is charged with the murders of Rashad Williams and Christian Foster, who were shot in the back Dec. 7, 2005 as the men fled the Clearlake Park home of Shannon Edmonds. Hopkins claims that the incident was a home invasion robbery gone bad, and that the three men were trying to rob Clearlake Park resident Shannon Edmonds of marijuana.
Hopkins said he plans to call Edmonds and his common law wife Lori Tyler to the witness stand, among others. He said the trial is expected to last approximately five weeks.
“There”s not a lot of recognition (of the case) shown in the questionnaires from the publicity,” Hopkins said.
Jury panels will fill out questionnaires similar to the one used during jury selection in Lake County, which contained questions about how much potential jurors knew about the case, racial bias, military experience, experience with law enforcement and the criminal justice system, and whether or not a juror knew anyone involved in the case.
“Half of the questions apply to all juries. The ones that apply to our case in particular are questions about medical marijuana, drug possession and gun possession,” Hanlon said.
Answers to the questions during Lake County”s jury selection process led attorneys to question approximately 80 percent of the potential jurors further, according to Hanlon. He said he doesn”t expect to question as many jurors in Contra Costa County.
“There were maybe five or 10 people in the jury pool who, when asked about the case, said they had heard of it. That”s a huge difference from when we were in Lake County,” Hanlon said.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
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