Jury selection in the Roger Clemens trial took a big step towards reaching its conclusion Monday, as the attorneys came to an agreement on a pool of 35 prospective jurors. The court was hoping to get 36 jurors they could cut down to 12 in the knockout round.
Roger Clemens Trial Jury Selection: Pool Of 35 Set For Final Knockout Phase
However, after reaching the minimum available by the close of business on Monday, the judge would have had to screen 50 more jurors with 82 questions just to find one more for the pool. Judge Walton felt sufficiently comfortable with 35 and will use that number to determine the final twelve person jury and four alternates.
Walton did say that given the number of available strikes the final group could come in short on alternates. However, Walton was comfortable with that rather than screening another 50 individuals. The resolution of the 35-person pool means we should see the final jury empaneled Tuesday. If the pace continues at what we saw today, it is possible the court will issue jury instructions Tuesday afternoon and begin opening statements Wednesday morning.
The attorneys will report back to the court at 11 am Tuesday.
Based on the tweets coming from the court room, there could be a considerable number of jurors who have either never heard of Roger Clemens, or only know his name as one they've heard before but can't place. While baseball is America's pastime, this jury selection process shows that there is seemingly a large demographic that doesn't care much about baseball.
Throw in numerous attorney and juror pot shots about the Nationals, and Bud Selig can't be pleased with that development.
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