Posted on Sat, Nov. 7, 2009
By Joseph A. Slobodzian
Lawyers and a Philadelphia judge yesterday completed a third day of jury selection, getting the eighth of 12 jurors to hear the murder trial of a North Philadelphia man charged in the Oct. 31, 2007, shooting of Police Officer Chuck Cassidy.
Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart and prosecution and defense lawyers have reviewed 200 prospective jurors since the selection process started Wednesday.
Minehart said jury selection would resume Monday with a new panel of 125 prospective jurors.
If the lawyers can find four additional jurors and six alternates, Minehart said, opening statements will be Thursday in what is expected to be a three-week trial.
The Criminal Justice Center and city courts are closed Wednesday for the Veterans Day holiday.
The jury-selection process is protracted because of the difficulty in assembling a panel of people willing to consider imposing the death penalty if they find John "Jordan" Lewis guilty of first-degree murder.
The problem is finding people willing to consider imposing the death penalty but who are not predisposed for or against it.
Just confronting the death penalty question is too much for some prospective jurors. The lawyers actually selected two jurors yesterday - for a total of nine - only to lose a female juror during the afternoon when she returned to the courthouse in tears.
Both sides agreed to excuse her. Minehart said in court that in a private meeting with him and the lawyers, the juror said she realized she could not handle the pressure of a capital case.
If the jurors find Lewis guilty of first-degree murder, they would begin a second proceeding to hear evidence of factors - aggravating aspects of the crime, and mitigating points in Lewis' background or personality - that they must weigh in deciding whether to sentence him to death.
Under Pennsylvania law, if the jury votes against a death sentence or cannot decide, Lewis is automatically sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.
Lewis, 23, is charged with murder and six armed robberies. The last robbery - a Dunkin' Donuts shop on North Broad Street near 66th Avenue - was interrupted when Cassidy walked in the door.
Cassidy, 54, a veteran of 25 years with the city police force, was shot in the head and died the next day.
Contact staff writer Joseph A. Slobodzian at 215-854-2985 or jslobodzian@phillynews.com.
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