Jury Selection

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Jury selection is scheduled Monday in the case of a Virginia man charged with rape at the Mattress Outlet in 1998, according to Franklin County District Attorney John F. Nelson. Nelson Eugene Ryder, 44, of 117 Highlander Road, Stephens City, Va., is scheduled for a two-day trial beginning Thursday, Sept. 29, Nelson said Tuesday. Ryder is charged with two counts each of rape and aggravated indecent assault and one count each of terroristic threats and aggravated assault in the July 6, 1998, rape of an employee at Mattress Outlet, 1502 Lincoln Way East.

Dates have been set for jury selection and the trial of a Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., man charged with homicide in the shooting death of his neighbor. Following a pretrial conference at the Franklin County Courthouse Friday, President Judge Douglas Herman set Feb. 7 as the date for jury selection for the trial of Michael Harrigan. Herman said the trial could begin as early as the close of jury selection on Feb. 7 or Feb. 8 and conclude on Feb. 11. Harrigan is charged in the May 27 shooting death of Steven Wetzel, 47, of Blue Ridge Avenue.

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. - Jury selection was to continue today in the trial of Brandon T. Morris, a state prison inmate charged with killing a correctional officer in Hagerstown and escaping from Washington County Hospital nearly two years ago. Washington County Deputy State's Attorney Joseph Michael said Tuesday afternoon through a spokeswoman in his Hagerstown office that jury selection was expected to be completed by Thursday, with opening statements...

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) - Michael Jackson was taken to an emergency room with flu-like symptoms Tuesday, delaying jury selection in the pop star's child-molestation case for a week. The entertainer was being treated for a "flu-like illness with some vomiting," Dr. Chuck Merrill said during a brief news conference at Marian Medical Center about five hours after Jackson's illness was announced in court by the judge. "He's in stable condition and we expect a full recovery," Merrill said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Jurors for the trial of a Hedgesville, W.Va., man charged in the May 2007 death of Martinsburg woman will be selected from 70 people to be called for jury duty this week in Berkeley County Circuit Court. In a pretrial hearing Monday, Anthony Charles Juntilla, 39, was advised by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge David H. Sanders that he had the right to remain silent and not testify in his trial, which is set to begin Sept. 2. Juntilla responded "yes, your honor" after each time Sanders asked the defendant if he understood his trial rights.

charlestown@herald-mail.com CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - The murder trial of Raymond E. Hoak got off to a slow start Tuesday as the first day was taken up with jury selection. Jury selection began around 9 a.m. with a pool of about 100 potential jurors, said Jefferson County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Larry Crofford. After questioning potential jurors throughout the day, a panel of 12 jurors and three alternates was selected a few minutes before 5 p.m. Kevin D. Mills, one of two defense attorneys for Hoak, said it was the longest jury selection in which he has participated.

A Howard County judge on Friday indefinitely postponed the trial for Brandon T. Morris, a prison inmate who is facing first-degree murder and other charges in the January 2006 slaying of Roxbury Correctional Institution Officer Jeffery Alan Wroten. Howard County Circuit Judge Dennis M. Sweeney's decision came after Morris attempted to run out of a courtroom on Thursday during jury selection. The decision likely will delay the start of the trial until at least September. See Saturday's edition of The Herald-Mail for the full story.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Having twice failed to show up for jury selection, Terrance Williams was contrite Tuesday when he appeared for a juror contempt hearing before Franklin County Judge John R. Walker. "It was complete negligence on my part," Williams told Walker. Court Administrator Neil Burkholder told Walker that Williams did not acknowledge a summons to appear for jury duty in May, nor did he respond to a notice served by the sheriff's office to appear for the July trial term.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - With jury selection a week away, Franklin County Judge John R. Walker on Monday closed a hearing during which videotape testimony was taken in the double-homicide trial of Albert Reid. Citing state law, Franklin County District Attorney John F. Nelson said testimony from two prosecution witnesses should not be made public "until and unless it is admitted at trial. " Walker agreed that making the testimony public could complicate the selection of a jury and possibly result in the trial having to be moved.

A Boonsboro man accused of sexually abusing a girl in 2007-08 will not be tried on the two charges for which he could have faced a sentence of life in prison. Before the trial of Gerald Wayne Hubbard got under way Monday in Washington County Circuit Court, the state dismissed charges against him of first-degree rape and first-degree sex offense. Because those charges carry possible life sentences, the defense and the state are allowed additional strikes during jury selection - 20 for the defense and 10 for the state, Assistant State's Attorney Brett Wilson said after court concluded.

A State Line, Pa., man accused of killing a police informant in April 2010, is scheduled for a 2 1/2-week trial starting March 19, 2012. Jeffrey Eldon Miles Sr., 48, is charged with criminal homicide in the stabbing death of a Hagerstown woman, Kristy Dawn Hoke. Hoke's family had reported the mother of three missing just days before her remains were found in the Borough of Waynesboro on April 6, 2010. Franklin County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas President Judge Douglas Herman issued a Sept.

The trial of a man accused of killing his 70-year-old mother will likely not take place until 2012 and could take up to three weeks, according to discussions Friday between the prosecution, defense and Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Walsh. Marcus Wallace, 40, could face the death penalty if convicted in the death of Consuela Wallace. She suffered a depressed skull fracture when someone forced their way into her Hamilton Township home on Dec. 10, 2009, according to court records.

Dates have been set for jury selection and the trial of a Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., man charged with homicide in the shooting death of his neighbor. Following a pretrial conference at the Franklin County Courthouse Friday, President Judge Douglas Herman set Feb. 7 as the date for jury selection for the trial of Michael Harrigan. Herman said the trial could begin as early as the close of jury selection on Feb. 7 or Feb. 8 and conclude on Feb. 11. Harrigan is charged in the May 27 shooting death of Steven Wetzel, 47, of Blue Ridge Avenue.

HAGERSTOWN -- A Washington County Circuit judge on Monday heard several motions, mostly from the defense, related to the upcoming first-degree murder trial of Alec Scott Eger. Eger, 20, whose last known address was 15 Berner Ave., was charged with first-degree murder and felony murder in the Oct. 31, 2008, stabbing death of Billy Lee Black. Eger's trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 1. He was being held Monday night at the Washington County Detention Center. The first defense motion heard Monday was a request that Washington County Assistant State's Attorney Gina Cirincion, the lead prosecutor, be recused from the case.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A judge said she will formally find Paul Devoe -- accused in the deaths of six people, including a Franklin County, Pa., woman -- competent to stand trial in two of the deaths in Travis County. The Austin American-Statesman reported online Tuesday that State District Judge Brenda Kennedy also set jury selection for Sept. 10. Devoe is accused of shooting to death a man at a Marble Falls bar, four people in a Jonestown house and a woman in Pennsylvania in August 2007 before being arrested in Long Island, N.Y. Betty Jane Dehart, 81, was found shot dead at her home on North Young Road near State Line, Pa., the day of Devoe's capture.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Jurors for the trial of a Hedgesville, W.Va., man charged in the May 2007 death of Martinsburg woman will be selected from 70 people to be called for jury duty this week in Berkeley County Circuit Court. In a pretrial hearing Monday, Anthony Charles Juntilla, 39, was advised by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge David H. Sanders that he had the right to remain silent and not testify in his trial, which is set to begin Sept. 2. Juntilla responded "yes, your honor" after each time Sanders asked the defendant if he understood his trial rights.

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. - Prosecutors are scheduled to begin presenting evidence today in the trial of Brandon T. Morris, the former state prison inmate accused of killing a correctional officer while escaping from Washington County Hospital in January 2006. Morris, 22, of Baltimore, could face the death penalty if he is convicted of first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty to more than 30 charges, which also include kidnapping and carjacking, but his defense team has said it will focus on proving the shooting was not premeditated.

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. - A jury should be selected today in the trial of Brandon T. Morris, a state prison inmate charged with killing a correctional officer in Hagerstown and escaping from Washington County Hospital nearly two years ago, State's Attorney Charles Strong said Wednesday afternoon. Opening statements are set for Friday, and the state will begin presenting its evidence Monday. According to published reports in December, defense attorneys said they will concede most of the charges against Morris and focus on fighting the allegation of premeditated first-degree murder in the death of Jeffery A. Wroten on Jan. 27, 2006.

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. - Jury selection was to continue today in the trial of Brandon T. Morris, a state prison inmate charged with killing a correctional officer in Hagerstown and escaping from Washington County Hospital nearly two years ago. Washington County Deputy State's Attorney Joseph Michael said Tuesday afternoon through a spokeswoman in his Hagerstown office that jury selection was expected to be completed by Thursday, with opening statements...