No reason given for reversal, but panel may be picked today
JIMMIE E. GATES • JGATES@CLARIONLEDGER.COM • FEBRUARY 16, 2010
A Hinds County judge on Monday reversed his decision and now will sequester the jury in the murder trial of the man charged with killing Jackson State University student Latasha Norman.
Circuit Judge Swan Yerger did not say why he changed his mind in the case against Stanley Cole, 26, of Greenville.
The judge told potential jurors to be thinking about the clothes and other items they will need if they are among the 12 jurors and two alternates selected.
"We will give you a chance to go home and get things" once the jury is chosen, Yerger told them.
Last month, Yerger said, "The court doesn't believe there is anything unusual in this case that the court can't handle (without sequestering the jury). The defendant will receive a fair trial."
But most of the prospective jurors summoned for the trial have said they've heard something about the case in the media either during the time Norman went missing in November 2007 or after her body was discovered in a wooded area in north Jackson.
Yerger said the trial will go into next week. He expects a jury will be picked by noon today.
About a dozen or more prospective jurors gave Yerger, defense attorneys and prosecutors reasons why being sequestered would place a hardship on them. Yerger excused the ones with acceptable excuses.
Cole's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Matt Eichelberger, last month argued to have the jury sequestered.
"Intense media scrutiny would lead us to request the jury be sequestered," Eichelberger said at that time.
Normally, a jury is sequestered in a capital murder case, but Cole isn't charged with capital murder.
A sequestered jury in a Hinds County death penalty trial could cost more than $15,000.
Cole has been in court for jury selection. He is accused of killing Norman, his ex-girlfriend, after the two left JSU's campus in November 2007.
Norman, 20, was reported missing after attending an afternoon class on Nov. 13, 2007. Her decomposed body was discovered 16 days later in a wooded area in north Jackson off Brown Street.
Norman also was from Greenville.
Detectives have said Cole told them where to find Norman's body after he was arrested and brought to the Jackson Police Department.
Jury selection in the case began last Tuesday. However, it was suspended Friday because of the snow storm that dumped nearly five inches of snow on the metro area.
To comment on this story, call Jimmie E. Gates at (601) 961-7212.
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