Jury selected for first Colorado City case
 
By Aibing Guo
Kingman Daily Miner
 
KINGMAN – As Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steven Conn warned, juror selection for the trial of Colorado City man Kelly Fisher was a long and exhausting process for everyone involved.

Not only did jury candidates have to go through long hours of questioning from Conn, some of them had to stand in the courtroom during the session.

A hundred people were picked countywide to take part in the jury selection, but only about half of them could secure a seat in the courtroom.

"I apologize for all the inconvenience of the day, especially for those of you who are unable to sit down," Conn said near the end of the process. He initially planned to invite 80 county residents, but a miscalculation added 20 more to the list. A warning note from the Kingman Fire Department on the courtroom door stated "Maximum for 60."

Through rounds of questioning and two hours of closed-door meetings with selected candidates, Conn picked 21 people as jury candidates for the trial of Fisher, an alleged polygamous practitioner facing charges of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy of sexual conduct with a miner.

Defense Attorney Bruce Griffen from Flagstaff and County Attorney Matt Smith each eliminated six persons from the 21-person list, leaving nine as the final members of the jury.

If any one of the nine members leaves the jury for personal reasons during the trial, the jury will continue to function with eight members. If all of them stay through the trial, one of them will be randomly selected to leave to secure the final decision, which is made by an eight-member jury, Conn said.

The eight-member jury was endorsed by both attorneys in pre-trial hearings.

There were only five women while 16 men were selected as candidates for the jury, but both attorneys let those five women go through the final pick. The gender composition of the jury is five women and four men.

Griffen said he did not put the gender issue into consideration in the selection process, and it just happened that five ladies were in the jury after both attorneys evaluated candidates with various criteria. He said profession and location of jury candidates were also not his main concerns.

In the Miner’s observation, five of 21 candidates are affiliated with school districts, two to medical centers, two to Laughlin casinos, and the rest work for various businesses in the area or are retired.

In the final selection, four school-related candidates, both medical persons and one casino staff were out. None of the nine members qualified for the jury came from the same profession.

Conn repeatedly told the candidates in the selection process that they were chosen to judge whether the defendant is guilty solely on the evidence presented by both attorneys, not on any other factors.

If the jury is convinced that the defendant is practicing polygamy but not guilty on the two charges, the defendant should be considered not guilty. On the contrary, if they are not sure whether the defendant is practicing polygamy, but convinced he is guilty on the charges, the result should be guilty, Conn said. He emphasized that no former formed personal opinions could play any role in the decision-making process.

On the trial schedule today, Conn said Smith would present an opening statement to the jury first at 9:30 a.m., and Griffen could choose to make his statement right after. Smith will be first to present his evidence and witnesses to the jury for direct examination, and Griffen could challenge them in a cross-examination. Griffen then has the chance to present his evidence and witnesses to the jury followed by the questioning from the state.

The trial would finish with closing statements from both attorneys and the jury would then meet to decide the final result, Conn said. Though the trial might last to Friday, Conn said there is a chance that the trial could finish this afternoon if everything goes smoothly.

After the jury selection on Wednesday, Griffen said he did not know whether he would call any witness to the trial, and he is open for all options. He said he was satisfied with the jury selection process but there are still several questions he would raise to the court before the jury begins functioning on today.

Smith was busy meeting witnesses in the trial after the jury selection late Wednesday afternoon. Contrary to his relatively conservative estimate several days ago, in which he said it was likely that none of his witnesses would show up to the trial, Smith said three witnesses had arrived in Kingman to testify to the jury. He preferred to hold their names until the trial.

Though the key witness, the victim, Jenny Steed, was not among the witnesses, Smith believed he has strong evidence and witnesses to present the state’s point.

Smith had tried to subpoena witnesses from the polygamous community through the court several times, but none of the attempts were successful. Smith considered the victim’s biological father, mother and sisters as key witnesses to the case.

Fisher is one of the eight men from Colorado City charged with sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. He is believed to be a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, a sect that believes polygamy is a protected and sacred aspect of religion.

Most of the members of the sect live in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. The spiritual leader of the sect, Warren Jeffs, has been listed as one of the FBI’s Top 10 wanted fugitives.
 
KingmanDailyMiner.com
Originally published July 6, 2006
 
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