WINONA — Some small towns promote a way of life in which "everybody knows everybody," but that familiarity can pose challenges during a murder trial.
Some of those challenges presented themselves Monday during jury selection in the sixth trial of Curtis Giovanni Flowers, accused of committing a quadruple homicide at a Winona furniture store in 1996.
The court questioned 156 jurors, a group that had already been narrowed from the 600 summoned Friday. More than 70 remained in the pool at the end of the day.
According to their responses, more than 100 of the 156 potential jurors had some sort of relationship, connection or past encounter with someone involved in the case.
Circuit Judge Joseph Loper told them the court was seeking an impartial jury that would vote based on evidence presented to the court, not "outside influences, family ties or friendships." Jury candidates were excused if they admitted that their relationships or prior knowledge of the case could render them biased.
During the selection process Monday, it seemed difficult to find someone in Winona who didn't have some connection to the case.
Some of Flowers' relatives, through blood and marriage, were called in the initial jury pool. The relationships ranged from close cousins to distant relatives. One potential juror had a brother who had dated Flowers' sister. Another was married to Flowers' first cousin. Another said she was Flowers' junior high English teacher.
Others claimed to work with his family members and said they feared those relationships could affect their decisions.
Then there were those who knew family members of the victims or had known the victims themselves: Bertha Tardy, 59, Carmen Rigby, 45, Robert Golden, 42, and Derrick "BoBo" Stewart, 16.
Jurors who admitted that this would affect their performance were dismissed; those who said they could be impartial stayed in the pool.
Another concern of the court is the widespread publicity generated by the case. Several jurors said they had already formed an opinion about it and were therefore excused.
Flowers has been convicted and sentenced to death three times, but the Mississippi Supreme Court threw out the convictions on appeal. He is believed to be the only person in U.S. history to be tried six times on the same murder charges.
The past two Flowers trials have ended with hung juries, and the fifth trial featured some controversy involving jurors.
Juror James Bibbs was arrested on perjury charges, but the state attorney general's office eventually decided not to press charges. Bibbs allegedly said in the jury room that he saw evidence planted on the day of the murders, according to a note one of the other jurors sent the judge.
Mary Purnell, an alternate juror in that trial, was arrested on perjury charges after she was accused having contact with Flowers and his family before the trial despite saying under oath that she didn't know them. Purnell pleaded guilty in November 2009 and was sentenced to 15 months in jail.
Race has been a controversial issue of the trial. Flowers' third conviction was thrown out because the high court found prosecutors used racial discrimination during jury selection, using all 15 strikes on blacks.
Flowers is black, and three of the four victims were white.
While discussing the first round of eliminations Monday, the prosecution claimed the defense was attempting to hold on to black jurors based on race and their actions were "improper." The judge responded that the defense had asked to hold only one juror thus far for further questioning of their ability to remain impartial and had not acted improperly.
Another concern is the effect of family ties within the jury. Several in the remaining pool claimed to be related to one another.
One potential juror said his wife, his son and his son's wife remained in the pool. At least one other father/son pair was still in the jury pool Monday along with cousins.
Jury selection was to continue today.
•Contact Taylor Kuykendall at tkuykendall@gwcommonwealth.com.
