Jury selection process as Susan Monica trial begins

Medford, Ore.–Susan Monica ischeduled to stand trial for the next two weeks inside a Jackson County Courtroom.

The 59-year-old is accused of murdering Robert Haney and Stephen Frank Delicino between 2012 and 2013. Dismembering the bodies and burying them on her rural property in rogue river.

Attorney’s on both sides want to make sure they select an unbiased group of jurors.

“In a high profile case with a lot on the line you want to know ahead of time what potential jurors are going to say.”

And that requires a large pool.So it was packed inside courtroom 302 Monday morning as more than 150 people were questioned.

Attorney Tom Peterson with Black Chapman Webber & Stevens in Medford, who’s not involved in the case, said it can sometimes take several days to chose a qualified jury.

With cases like this one. It’s not uncommon for a questionnaire to be sent to potential jurors before the trial begins.And that’s exactly what the Jackson County DA’s office did.

“You get a better idea of whose going to be in, whose going to be out,” said Petersen.

But in a case like Monica’s, that garnered so much media attention in the last year-plus, Petersen said familiarity with the case won’t disqualify a juror.

“The only thing that you have to be able to tell a judge and a lawyer is that you will listen to the evidence, evaluate it fairly and pay attention to the jury instruction.”

Simple instructions that 12 jackson county residents will soon be following. In one of the county’s biggest murder trials of 2015.

Jury selection is not complete as of Monday night. But the trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday.