Minerd trial to get under way today
PITTSBURGH – Opening statements by the prosecution and defense will be heard today in the death penalty case of a Bullskin Township man charged with planting a pipe bomb that killed his estranged girlfriend and her daughter in their home. On Monday, the two sides pared the jury pool to the nine women and three men who will hear testimony and determine the fate of Joseph P. Minerd, 46, who is charged with the Jan. 1, 1999, deaths of Deana Kay Mitts and her 3-year-old daughter, Kayla Ashley Mitts.
Three alternate jurors were also chosen during the court session.
Prior to the final selections, the jury candidates were required to complete a 19-page questionnaire that in addition to inquiring of personal data, also queried the views of the respondent on the death penalty, the judicial system and law enforcement. Over a two-week period, prosecutor Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District Shaun E. Sweeney and defense counsel, attorneys Jay T. McCamic and Richard Kammen, along with U.S. Senior District Judge Maurice B. Cohill, reviewed the lengthy documentation of more than 125 people before agreeing on 61 candidates to be part of the jury pool.
On Monday, the prospective jurors gathered in Cohill’s courtroom, where the two sides were given the opportunity to strike 20 names from the first 52 chosen during the screening process for the 12-member panel and an additional strike from a list of five names for the alternate jurors.
The process took approximately 40 minutes to complete. Sweeney was given the first opportunity to eliminate a name from the list with Kammen performing the same duty for the defense counsel. Neither side was required to present a cause for striking a name from the list. Cohill extended his appreciation to those who had waited more than an hour before the final phase took place and he was able to excuse those not chosen as jurors.
“We were all impressed with your interviews and responses to the questionnaires, that’s why you were here,” he said.
With the completion of the selection, the 12-member panel and three alternates were seated in the jury box. Cohill indicated he would administer the juror oath at the start of today’s proceedings that is slated to begin at 9 a.m.