Jury selection begins in Tulsa officer’s manslaughter trial
TULSA — The Tulsa police officer at the center of a high-profile fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man was not in court Monday for the first day of jury selection in her first-degree manslaughter trial. Officer Betty Shelby, 43, is expected to be there Tuesday as additional prospective jurors are questioned.
Defense attorneys Shannon McMurray and Scott Wood did not comment about why she was not present or about their case as they left the Tulsa County courthouse Monday. A district attorney’s office spokeswoman told reporters not to expect comments from prosecutors until the trial is complete and said it’s unlikely that the Crutcher family — who along with Shelby’s family wasn’t in court Monday — will speak to the media while the trial is ongoing.
Seventy prospective jurors arrived in District Judge Doug Drummond’s courtroom by way of an elevator that is not accessible to the public, eliminating the possibility that they could be recorded or photographed on the fourth floor. Enhanced security procedures have added a metal detector outside the door to Drummond’s courtroom in addition to those at the entrances to the building. In addition, Fifth Street between the Tulsa County courthouse and the Tulsa CityCounty Library will be closed throughout the trial.
Drummond struck three prospective jurors from the pool Monday evening. He had led the questioning process Monday afternoon,
asking 43 potential jurors — 33 women and 10 men — for more information based on their responses to a one-page questionnaire about pretrial publicity.
All 70 potential jurors also completed a questionnaire about their backgrounds and opinions about such topics as law enforcement use of force, treatment of minorities by police and the credibility they would give to law enforcement testimony.
The majority said they learned about the Sept. 16 fatal shooting through television news reports, newspaper articles, radio broadcasts or social media activity. One of the questions on the publicity questionnaire asked whether the respondents or anyone they knew had posted commentary about the case on social media, and multiple people responded “yes.”
Most of the potential jurors said they learned about the case either on the day of or within a week after the shooting. The majority said they did not follow developments in the case regularly, although they were generally aware through media coverage that jury selection for Shelby’s trial was to begin Monday.
In excusing one woman from service, Drummond noted that her husband is a reserve officer who communicated with Shelby after she was charged with manslaughter. Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gray and defense attorney Shannon McMurray said they agreed with Drummond’s dismissing the other two potential jurors because of what Gray deemed “extremely strong” opinions about Shelby’s guilt or innocence.
Gray also asked Drummond to remove from the panel a woman who said she didn’t know whether she could be fair and impartial. In denying the request, Drummond said the state could again move to strike that potential juror after she is questioned further.
At least one person said the case could have racial implications and is a part of the larger national conversation about police use of force against people of color, particularly black men. Crutcher was black and Shelby is white, which — combined with information about Crutcher’s being unarmed — contributed to the international attention the case has received.
Of the jurors questioned Monday, eight appeared to be minorities, including six African-Americans. All but one of the African-Americans questioned so far are women.
Two of the jurors reported hearing information about the case through Shelby’s interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired nationally April 2, while a few others said they saw video footage of Shelby shooting Crutcher online. One woman said she posted a comment on Twitter about the case and controversy happening “so close to home,” while another said she posted a meme on Instagram when Shelby was charged.
A man questioned late Monday afternoon said he knew of the case through video footage from a Tulsa police helicopter and also saw “passionate” statements on the news from Crutcher’s twin sister, Tiffany Crutcher, after his death. A woman said a customer had discussed the case with her and said, referencing Shelby, “That lady made a huge mistake.”
Several jurors said they believed that news coverage of the case was generally unfavorable toward her and expressed reluctance at giving an opinion “without having all the facts.” One woman said she has had universally positive experiences with law enforcement.
Drummond said 19 people who were not questioned Monday reported knowing about the case but not enough to necessitate his needing to personally question them, but that both sides could choose which ones to call for their own evaluation. Another four people, Drummond said, didn’t need to be questioned at all about pretrial publicity.
Jury selection will resume Tuesday morning and is expected to last until at least Wednesday.