Testimony begins Wednesday in murder trial

BONIFAY — Opening statements are scheduled Wednesday morning in the murder trial of Johnny Mack Skeeto Calhoun, after selection of 12 jury members and three alternatives ended Tuesday.

Proceedings resume in Holmes County Circuit Court resume at 9 a.m. and could last into next week.

“We need a total of 15 people to serve on this panel for almost two weeks,” Circuit Judge Christopher Patterson said.

Calhoun, 34, is charged in the slaying of 24-year-old Mia Brown, who worked as a cashier in an Esto convenience store Calhoun frequented. Her body was discovered in the trunk of her burned-out car in December 2010 in Geneva County, Ala.

Calhoun could face the death penalty if convicted as charged.

Patterson said jurors are strictly prohibited from contacting anyone or viewing any media regarding the trial.  They also are prohibited from using email, texting, social media or other electronic media while on jury duty.

 “We’ve been working diligently to reach this point this morning,” Patterson said. “I wish to thank everyone for their hard work. Now, how to hold a fair and lawful trial — the jury must base their decision on the evidence presented alone.”

The proceedings started as it did the day before, with the attorneys and the judge questioning potential alternate jurors. They called in potential alternate jurors in sets of three and the attorneys and Patterson questioned them and either asked them to return upstairs to await further questioning or excused them from further jury service for this trial.

“Guilt phase may last the rest of this week and some of next week,” the judge said. “The fact that I’m discussing a penalty phase shouldn’t sway your decision, for he is innocent until proven guilty. We’re looking for a fair and impartial jury.”

Jurors have been excused so far because of being related to the victim and her family or Calhoun and his family or because of news coverage of the crime.

One potential juror said she had a set opinion of the trial because of the media and said they never would be swayed otherwise because of it. That juror was quickly excused.

“We’re looking for someone who can truly rely on evidence and give a fair and unbiased verdict in this case,” Patterson said. “Giving a faithful and true verdict based on the … facts presented during the course of this trial.”

Patterson announced that one juror had approached him earlier Tuesday and was excused from jury duty. This left a need for one more juror as well as two alternates.

After much discussion, the judge and attorneys agreed one alternate will be used to complete the jury panel of 12 and then the search for alternates increased from two to three.

Premeditated murder?

After selecting members for the jury, the judge excused the rest of the potential jurors for the remainder of the trial. Then questioning by the judge and the attorneys to find the three alternate jurors began.

Assistant State Attorney Brandon Young explained to potential alternates what constitutes premeditated murder.

“The intent to kill must be in the mind before the kill regardless of the time period,” Young said. “An example is if I was driving down the street and I see a Piggly Wiggly and decided to grab some lunch. I didn’t anticipate grabbing some lunch from Piggly Wiggly beforehand, but once I see the Piggly Wiggly I had it in my mind that I wanted lunch from there; that’s premeditation.”

After an hour lunch break, the search for the alternate three jurors continued with Public Defender Kim Dowgul taking up her portion of questioning.

“Will any of you have any difficulty separating your emotion and sympathy from the facts?” Dowgul asked.

At one point, a juror said he would need at least two eyewitnesses before being able to sentence someone to death, but he said that he would follow the letter of the law.

After less than a 10-minute break, the judge asked three to remain as the alternate jurors and excused the rest.

The attorneys stayed behind to discuss various aspects of the upcoming trial. Both attorneys agreed that 45 minutes for opening statements was enough time. The attorneys also discussed various pieces of evidence that will be used in the case.