Potential jurors cite job fears as jury selection begins for Redlick trial
A judge excused half of the prospective jurors interviewed Monday for the murder trial of Danielle Redlick, the Winter Park woman accused of fatally stabbing her husband, a prominent faculty member at the University of Central Florida.
Redlick, 48, is charged with second-degree murder and evidence tampering in the death of 65-year-old Michael Redlick, whose body was found at the couple’s Temple Drive home Jan. 12, 2019.
Attorneys for Redlick, who has pleaded not guilty, have said she was acting in self-defense after her husband tried to strangle her. But authorities say the nature of his wounds and her behavior afterward — cleaning the killing scene, checking messages on a dating app and researching suicide, while waiting hours to call police — show otherwise.
Circuit Judge Tanya Davis Wilson told a panel of 50 potential jurors the trial could last up to two-and-a-half weeks at the Orange County Courthouse. The trial will need six jurors and several alternates, said Julio Semino, a court administration spokesperson for the Ninth Judicial Circuit.
Most of the 25 potential jurors dismissed were excused because of the financial hardship of serving on a jury.
Outside the presence of jurors, the judge told attorneys she was not inclined to dismiss potential jurors who said their employers had staffing shortages — an explanation she said she has been hearing more frequently from juries.
Potential jurors for the Redlick trial echoed the same sentiment Monday, including one man who said he was concerned about his job’s security because his boss was pressuring him to not miss work.
Assistant State Attorney Sean Burton Wiggins told the panel it is illegal for employers to take any adverse action against their employees because of jury duty.
“Your employer could not fire you or demote you,” he said.
Another juror was dismissed, though, after he said he was an independent contractor for a delivery company that told him they would hire someone else to do the job.
Out of the 25 potential jurors who remained after those excused for hardships were dismissed, only eight said they were exposed to media coverage of the trial. Few knew details about Redlick’s case.
“My understanding is there was possibly a domestic violence issue in which a wife retaliated against her husband,” one woman said. “... I heard some conversation on the news about a woman attacking her husband and then not calling 911.”
The woman told the judge she had not formed an opinion on the case, though, and could come to a verdict solely on the evidence presented in court.
Davis Wilson told the 25 remaining jurors to return Wednesday. The judge and attorneys will interview a new panel of 50 potential jurors Tuesday.
When Redlick called 911 on the morning of Jan. 12, 2019, she initially told a dispatcher her husband had suffered a heart attack. Then her story changed, with Redlick claiming Michael Redlick had stabbed himself with a kitchen knife during an argument over infidelity.
But investigators determined Michael Redlick’s wounds were inconsistent with self-inflicted injuries and found his wife tried to clean the crime scene before calling for help 11 hours later.
Jury selection will continue Tuesday morning at 9 a.m.