SARASOTA — The pool of around 140 potential jurors who were interviewed Monday in the trial of a former Sarasota County Sheriff’s deputy charged with attempted murder, was reduced to around 65 who will return Tuesday for a final round of questions.
Jury selection was the beginning of the trial for Frank Bybee, 46, who is facing 18 felonies, including attempted murder, exploitation of the elderly, burglary, theft and kidnapping. He faces a life sentence if he is convicted of the first-degree felony charge for attempted murder.
His trial was postponed for 20 days after his attorney withdrew and a former Manatee County judge, John Lakin, joined the defense team causing a conflict of interest with 12th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Thomas Krug. Lakin is currently under investigation by the Florida Bar for actions taken while he was on the bench.
Krug recused himself
from the case and Chief Judge Charles E. Williams asked the Florida
Supreme Court to appoint a judge from outside of Sarasota County. Judge
Donald H. Mason of Charlotte County was assigned to the case that was
original scheduled to begin Sept. 5.
Assistant State
Attorneys Karen Fraivillig and Art Jackman, and defense attorneys John
Lakin and Ronald Kurpiers, must now choose 12 jurors and two alternates
to sit on the jury.
The trial will likely begin Wednesday and is expected to last for two weeks.
Prospective
jurors were questioned in two different sessions Monday, with attorneys
deciding after each session whether hardships and established opinions
produced by jurors were enough to strike them from the roster.
Many
jurors raised their hands when asked if they had read or watched
coverage of the Bybee case. Some said they already had preconceived
notions of guilt and could not be impartial.
Among the reasons jurors gave for being unable to render a fair
verdict were being caretakers themselves for disabled relatives,
“personal feelings,” and one said a family member was convicted of
murder and died in his jail cell. The statements came after jurors were
informed that the case could take up to two weeks. Some expressed
worries over financial hardships.
“I just could not do it,” said the female juror whose family member died in jail.
Another
female juror said she decided she could not be fair after hearing the
charges in the case, which involves an elderly woman.
A male juror said he is retired and takes care of his mother.
“I bathe her, toileted her, and fed her,” the male juror said. “You don’t want me on that trial.”
A
juror in the afternoon session said she lost a lot of work during
Hurricane Irma and is responsible for watching her grandchild.
The
hurricane hardship excuse was the most common reasoning for many
jurors, besides vacations, seeking to be exempt from the trial. Judge
Donald H. Mason of Charlotte County said that nearly every juror present
will suffer a financial inconvenience. He said it jury duty was part of
living in America.
The attorneys released most of the jurors who cited hardships.
Several jurors felt they could be fair, but made the judge aware of possible issues that could arise during the trial.
“I wanted to let you know that my husband is a police officer,” a female juror said.
Two
additional jurors just wanted the court to know they worked with the
elderly, but felt “presumption of innocence” was not a problem.
Judge Mason and Fraivillig told the panel to be blunt with their answers.
Fraivillig
asked the potential jurists if they would participate in the selection
process. When they did not reply, she asked again, sparking a “yes”
response.
“The most important thing for you to do is
be candid with us,” Fraivillig said. “We are looking for jurors that
have no preconceived notions or biases. We need you to be a blank
slate.”
Two jurors said they had family members in law enforcement — one said
they could be fair, the other said they might be tempted to side with a
law enforcement officer.
A female juror said her
uncle is a sheriff’s deputy being called as a witness. She said even if
he was a plumber, she would trust her relative’s opinion.
Long after the potential jurors were asked if they had conflicts, two men said that they might have issues with “the system.”
“I
have had dealings with State Attorney and sometimes I see how things
go,” a male juror said. “Sometimes I agree and sometimes I don’t agree —
because I am exposed to it, I’m probably not the best person.”
Both sides agreed to strike one female juror who told the court, “If I’m not getting paid, I will have an attitude.”
A
male juror in the afternoon session asked whether he could make a fair
judgement based on the charges he heard in the case said, “No, I can’t. I
personally feel this guy is a low life.”
Another female juror says she works at the Sheriff’s Office and has been subjected to “negative opinions” about Bybee.
A male juror who said he was had to attend a paramedics test to
become a firefighter was also excused. He received soft applause from
the crowd when Judge Mason released him.
Bybee, an
18-year employee of the Sheriff’s Office, was arrested Jan. 23 after a
79-year-old woman called the Sheriff’s Office for help on Oct. 21.
Bybee,
a patrol deputy, was sent to the call and took the woman to Sarasota
Memorial Hospital, where the former deputy prayed with her before he
left, according to an investigation.
About two
months later, the woman reported that Bybee had inserted himself into
her personal life and had become too controlling. She asked the
Sheriff’s Office for help in severing the relationship with the deputy.
Bybee
was placed on administrative leave Jan. 9 and three days later,
according to court documents, he went back to elderly woman’s home and
attempted to kill her.
The Sheriff’s Office
terminated his employment on Jan. 31 after enough information was
discovered through an internal affairs investigation to sustain
allegations of conduct unbecoming and conformance with laws, on top of
criminal charges.
Bybee has been in custody at the Sarasota County Jail on a $380,120 bail.
Jury selection is expected to last until at least Tuesday.
Full Article & Source:
Jury pool shrinks for attempted murder trial of former Sarasota deputy
