OFF THE WIRE
JASON SIEDZIK
countytimes.com
Attorneys continued to shape the slate that will decide Kevin Campbell’s fate as jury selection in his murder trial entered day three.
As of the court’s lunch recess, six people — five women and one man — had been selected to the jury. One of those women was added in the morning session, while four people had been rejected before lunch.
Campbell’s counsel exercised one of their challenges after the lunch recess, while at least two more prospective jurors were excused. Those objections came for various reasons, ranging from health concerns to work obligations.
Campbell’s trial is expected to start Jan. 10, 2012 and is scheduled to last approximately three weeks. Judge James P. Ginocchio, who presided over the jury selection, is expected to hear the retrial.
Campbell, who was wearing a suit and prosthetic foot in court, is on trial for allegedly murdering Roland Lagasse in a dispute over membership in the Forbidden Motorcycle Club. Campbell is accused of shooting Lagasse after Lagasse challenged Campbell’s brother, James Campbell, to a fight outside of the motorcycle club’s meeting house.
Two groups of witnesses gave contrasting reports of the June 27, 2008 incident during Kevin Campbell’s July 2009 trial, which ended in a mistrial. According to one group, Lagasse challenged James Campbell — the club’s road captain — to a fight because James Campbell did not believe Jerome “Rob” Welch deserved a one-year patch. State witnesses testified that Lagasse struck James Campbell, then taunted Kevin Campbell.
Eugene Thebarge, the state’s key witness, testified that Kevin Campbell told Lagasse “you’re a dead man, (expletive deleted)” and shot him in the chest. However, James Campbell testified in the 2009 trial that Kevin Campbell had either shot Lagasse in self-defense or the gun had gone off accidentally.
Aside from asking candidates about their views on firearms and motorcycle clubs, as well as their ability to follow instructions, senior state’s attorney David Shepack and defense attorney Chris Cosgrove asked candidates about their television habits. Shepack, in particular, emphasized that police procedural shows such as the Law and Order and CSI franchises were fictional and not an accurate depiction of courtroom proceedings..
