Many prospective jurors for Dippolito trial excused
Questioning of jurors by judge was crux of overturned conviction.
WEST PALM BEACH — A prospective juror in Dalia Dippolito’s murder solicitation retrial told a judge Thursday that he had a conversation with his wife after they watched a news report on the case years ago.
After hearing that Dippolito was caught on camera asking an undercover officer posing as a hit man to kill her then-husband in 2009, the man said he turned to his wife with a warning.
“I told my wife, ‘Be careful who you hire.’ She said, ‘Don’t worry, I’d do it myself,’ ” he said.
Dippolito, 34, smiled as both prosecutors and her defense team shared chuckles of their own, marking a brief light moment on what was the first day of jury selection in the retrial for the escort-turned-newlywed who says her caught-on-camera murder plot was part of an acting script.
The day brought with it revelations that most prospective jurors so far have already heard about the case, fears that the entire panel would have to be thrown out and news that Dippolito may not take the stand in her own defense this time after all.
Circuit Judge Glenn Kelley had hoped to finish selecting a jury by today from 200 prospective panelists, but scrapped those plans within a couple of hours Thursday after more than half of an initial pool of 100 raised their hands when he asked whether they had already heard about Dippolito’s case.
Kelley questioned jurors who had heard about the case one by one, a process that took the rest of the day. Another 100 prospective jurors, who were originally scheduled for initial questioning Thursday afternoon, will instead come back today. Get news from Palm Beach County courtrooms at PalmBeachPost.
Questioning each juror individually about their knowledge of the case is important because Dippolito’s 2011 conviction and 20-year prison sentence in the case were overturned on appeal. Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath should have questioned jurors individually instead of as a group about what they knew about the case.
Less than a quarter of the initial pool of 100 jurors made it immediately through the first round of questioning after telling Kelley they hadn’t heard about the case and had no hardship that would keep them from serving as jurors for the weeklong trial.
Fewer than a dozen more were asked to return Monday after individual questioning.
Most who had heard about the case before Thursday, however, were dismissed — including those who knew there had been a previous trial and heard certain details about the case that attorneys and the judge agreed would be kept from jurors.
A handful had heard Dippolito