The defendant in a murder trial asked — unsuccessfully — for a change of venue even before jury selection got underway Monday.
Christopher D. Strawn, 33, told Juneau Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg that pre-trial publicity that included at least 10 articles in the Juneau Empire, as well as extensive discussions of his case on social media, meant he could not be assured of an impartial jury.
Strawn faces charges of first-degree and second-degree murder, manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, third-degree assault and weapons misconduct in connection with the October 2015 killing of 30-year-old Brandon C. Cook.
Pallenberg, however, told Strawn that only in extraordinary cases would such an issue be ruled on prior to jury selection.
The judge said that his recollection of the coverage both in print and on the radio was that the bulk occurred early on, shortly after the murder, and that he believes he can seat a jury that is not tainted.
Pallenberg admitted that he is not on social media and that there might be “a universe of information” out there that he is not aware of.
“We’ll go through the jury selection process and find out,” he said, adding that if the attorneys discovered a lot of the jury pool was very aware of the case, the defense could bring the motion back.
Pallenberg also denied a motion by Strawn to dismiss the case based on the speedy trial rule, saying he was not aware of any violations to the rule.
As jury selection itself got underway Monday afternoon, Pallenberg cautioned the jury pool the trial is expected to last at least two weeks, and possibly longer.
“I know you are all grimacing at this news,” Pallenberg said before telling the standing-room only crowd in Courtroom C that he will be stringent about granting hardship exemptions because he wants a fair cross-section of the community.
“I don’t want to sacrifice fairness in the interest of speed,” he added later.
The jury pool filled out questionnaires and then a panel of 25 were questioned by Assistant District Attorney Amy Paige and Yvette Soutiere of the Office of Public Advocacy.
Strawn is accused of shooting Cook “execution style” on Oct. 20., 2015, as he helped a friend, Tiffany Marie Albertson, paint the kitchen in her trailer in Kodzoff Acres Mobile Home Park on Mendenhall Loop Road.
Police found Cook dead on the kitchen floor with a gunshot wound to the back of his neck and head.
According to charging court documents, Albertson told police officers she had hired Strawn to help renovate the trailer. Albertson reportedly did not see the shooting, but said she heard the shot and turned to see Strawn holding a short-barreled shotgun with a pistol-style grip.
During Paige’s questioning of the jury panel, she asked potential jurors if they had heard about the shooting and if they could set that knowledge aside.
Paige also asked potential jurors if the absence of a murder weapon would affect their ability to rely on other evidence to find a defendant guilty; she also asked if they felt they could convict a defendant if no motive was presented during the trial.
Soutiere’s questions included the reliability of eyewitness tesimony, particularly during an intense emotional experience, as well as questions about the reliability of information on social media and in the newspaper.
She also asked potential jurors if they could find a defendant not guilty if the state had not proved its case.
A second panel is set to be called Tuesday morning and court will recess at 2 p.m. If 14 jurors do not survive the cuts, a new jury panel will likelyhave to be called for Wednesday.
• Contact reporter Liz Kellar at 523-2246 or at liz.kellar@juneauempire.com.
