A jury of eight women and four men will begin to hear evidence and testimony Wednesday morning in the trial of an Effingham County man accused of killing his father and brother.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys spent nearly eight hours Tuesday going through a pool of 58 potential jurors before selecting a panel of 12 with three alternates in the double murder trial of Craig Heidt. Opening statements are expected to begin at 9 a.m. in the Ebenezer Courtroom of the Effingham County Judicial Complex.
Craig Heidt is accused in the August 2008 shooting deaths of his father, noted realtor and developer Philip Heidt, and brother Carey Heidt. Craig Heidt also is charged with severely wounding his mother, Linda Heidt, in the early morning shooting that took place at Philip Heidt’s home on Springfield-Egypt Road.
Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Gates Peed also denied defense attorney Dow Bonds’ motion for a change of venue. Possible jurors were questioned if they had heard or seen accounts of the case. Bonds and then co-counsel Manubir Arora first filed for change of venue in July 2009, citing extensive pre-trial news media coverage.
“The court is well aware of the intense media scrutiny from day one,” Bonds said.
After the voir dire of the jury pool, Bonds said “a high percentage” of the jurors had read, heard or seen a report on the matter.
“It was a lot of people out of each panel,” he said. “A lot of people had heard about the pre-trial coverage. The thing troubling to me is the coverage that is not attributable to the media but the gossip chain. A large number of jurors had to be re-questioned over and over.”
Judge Peed, in issuing his ruling not to grant the change of venue motion, said only a handful of the jurors brought in for questioning had to be excused for preconceived opinions about the case.
“The court paid particular attention to the responses,” Judge Peed said.
Forty-one of the 51 potential jurors who reached that stage of the questioning said they had heard or seen reports of the case. But only a handful were excused because of pre-formed opinions on the case that they thought couldn’t be changed.
“We’re looking for 12 people and a few alternates who will listen to the state’s evidence and any evidence the defense might proffer and reach a fair verdict,” Assistant District Attorney Michael Muldrew told potential jurors.
Muldrew was joined by Ogeechee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Richard Mallard and GBI Special Agent Eugene Howard. Craig Heidt, dressed in a dark suit, sat alongside Bonds at the defense table and was an active participant in discussions with Bonds on potential jurors.
Potential jurors also were asked if they knew anyone connected with the case, including the late Philip and Carey Heidt, Craig Heidt and Linda Heidt. Bonds also asked jurors if they knew anyone from a list of more than 30 potential defense witnesses.
Bonds also reiterated his objection to Arora’s removal from the defense team earlier this year.
Muldrew also said the state will not seek the death penalty and the jury is not being sequestered — though Peed did issue his directives to avoid any newspaper, television, radio or Internet coverage of the trial and for jurors to refrain from discussing the case with anyone.
He also advised jurors not to perform Internet searches for terms or words that may come forth during testimony or statements. Judge Peed reminded jurors to restrict themselves to what they see and hear in the courtroom about the case.
“We all know Google can find anything,” he said. “But that would be inappropriate.”