Jury selection begins in pipeline shooting case
FAIRBANKS - Attorneys for both sides of the trial of alleged trans-Alaska oil pipeline shooter Daniel Lewis have voiced concerns that the case may have already been decided in the media.
Jury selection began Tuesday.
Nearly every person in a pool of about 70 potential jurors indicated familiarity with the pipeline shooting through news coverage. But most of those excused said it was not media coverage but a scheduling conflict or personal involvement in the case that would prevent them from being jurors.
The responses seemed to quell the concerns of Lewis' defense team that he could not receive a fair trial in the Fairbanks area because of extensive publicity.
Even so, Adam Gurewitz, one of Lewis' lawyers, said after Tuesday's proceedings that it was too early to know if an impartial jury could be found. About half of Tuesday's potential jurors were eliminated based on preliminary questions, and it could take an additional three days for the parties to pick a 12-member jury with two alternates.
Gurewitz has suggested Lewis' trial may need to be moved as far away as Bethel, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. Lewis is charged with first-degree criminal mischief, third-degree assault, felony driving while intoxicated, oil pollution and weapons misconduct.