Isom jurors will face severe limitations
About 270 jurors are expected for orientation Friday in the death penalty murder trial of a Gary man charged with three counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder.
Lake Superior Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. had his chief bailiff testify about arrangements to keep the public away from the 12 jurors and four alternates who will be selected in the trial of Kevin Charles Isom, 46, who has pleaded not guilty.
Isom is charged in the deaths of his wife and two stepchildren and the attempted murder of four Gary police officers in an August 2007 shooting at an apartment complex in the Miller section of Gary.
During the trial, which is expected to last three or four weeks, jurors will be allowed to view the homicide scene as a group, including the front and back hallways and courtyard in the Lakeshore Dunes Apartments. The trial will run six days a week if scheduling permits.
During their time away from court, jurors will be sequestered on one floor in an area motel in a separate wing, with two bailiffs assigned to be with them at all times, chief bailiff Michael Kelley said. Stefaniak’s decisions include the jurors will have no television, no phones, no computers, no electronic devices and no conjugal visits while the jury is sequestered. Kelley said he has looked into meals at a variety of restaurants, and Stefaniak decided jurors will be allowed one alcoholic drink with dinner. Arrangements will be made to accommodate interest in working out, swimming and for worship. Family members of jurors will be allowed a 90-minute visit on Sundays in a meeting room where 16 tables will be set up and bailiffs present, Kelley said.
In light of the sacrifice jurors will make in putting their lives on hold for three or four weeks, Stefaniak said he will authorize juror payment of $100 per day instead of $50.
“The goal of all these precautions is that jurors decide this case by what they see and hear in this courtroom,” Stefaniak said.
Stefaniak said 266 jurors are expected at the Friday afternoon orientation. Four of the pool of 270 are expected for a Monday morning orientation. Jury selection is expected to last several days. During juror questioning by deputy prosecutors David Urbanski and Michelle Jatkiewicz and defense attorneys Herb Shaps and Casey McCloskey, jurors will be referred to by number and will not be publicly identified under a policy in effect since 2006.
http://posttrib.suntimes.com/1083405...mitations.html
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