Jury selection for Luka Magnotta trial has four spots left to fill before Monday’s start date
The jury in Luka Magnotta’s first-degree murder trial gained more members Thursday, bringing the total to 12.
SVPMLuka Rocco Magnotta.
The most recent additions are a male retiree who worked as a financial analyst and a woman who works in a call centre.
That means the jury currently consists of six men and six women.
The process will continue until 16 people have been picked — 14 jurors and two alternates who will serve as a safeguard until the trial begins. Ultimately, 14 jurors will hear the case and a dozen will deliberate on the final verdict.
The trial is scheduled to start Monday. If a full jury, with alternates, hasn’t been selected by then, the trial will be postponed until all are found.
So far, 67 people — randomly chosen from the electoral list — have been called before Superior Court Justice Guy Cournouyer, although a handful have failed to appear.
Those present have had to answer several questions posed by defence lawyer Luc Leclair in order to determine their impartiality and fluency in French and English.
Magnotta faces five charges in connection with the May 2012 death of Lin Jun, a 33-year-old Chinese national and Concordia University student.
A female university employee, a male freelance translator and a man who teaches at a junior college were added to the jury earlier Thursday. But several candidates were rejected based on their pre-conceived ideas of the case.
“I don’t understand why there’s a trial for this,” said one man who works as a web designer. “There’s video proof he’s guilty so this is a waste of time.”
Another man said he didn’t want to be on the jury because he thought Magnotta was guilty.
“I’m too scared to disappoint members of my family and co-workers if he’s found not guilty,” he told the court.
Jury selection for Luka Magnotta trial has four spots left to fill before Monday’s start date | National Post
Looks like the circus will start on Monday after all.
The jury in Luka Magnotta’s first-degree murder trial gained more members Thursday, bringing the total to 12.
The most recent additions are a male retiree who worked as a financial analyst and a woman who works in a call centre.
That means the jury currently consists of six men and six women.
The process will continue until 16 people have been picked — 14 jurors and two alternates who will serve as a safeguard until the trial begins. Ultimately, 14 jurors will hear the case and a dozen will deliberate on the final verdict.
The trial is scheduled to start Monday. If a full jury, with alternates, hasn’t been selected by then, the trial will be postponed until all are found.
So far, 67 people — randomly chosen from the electoral list — have been called before Superior Court Justice Guy Cournouyer, although a handful have failed to appear.
Those present have had to answer several questions posed by defence lawyer Luc Leclair in order to determine their impartiality and fluency in French and English.
Magnotta faces five charges in connection with the May 2012 death of Lin Jun, a 33-year-old Chinese national and Concordia University student.
A female university employee, a male freelance translator and a man who teaches at a junior college were added to the jury earlier Thursday. But several candidates were rejected based on their pre-conceived ideas of the case.
“I don’t understand why there’s a trial for this,” said one man who works as a web designer. “There’s video proof he’s guilty so this is a waste of time.”
Another man said he didn’t want to be on the jury because he thought Magnotta was guilty.
“I’m too scared to disappoint members of my family and co-workers if he’s found not guilty,” he told the court.
Jury selection for Luka Magnotta trial has four spots left to fill before Monday’s start date | National Post
Looks like the circus will start on Monday after all.
