4.Voir Dire — Juror 520
124 lines(Discussion at sidebar and out of the hearing of the public:)
THE COURT: So in answer to Question 85, this juror indicated that she knows -- I guess has sat and chatted with -- a fellow club member who is Witness No. 475, who was listed as a person on the MIT Police Department.
MS. CLARKE: Right, and I think a rather actively involved officer, Henniger.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Henniger is a likely witness.
THE COURT: Well, I will explore her relationship to the extent of it and then we can decide based on that, I guess. I mean, obviously MIT connections here emerge and we would be interested in them.
MS. CLARKE: A lot of them.
THE COURT: I'm just pausing to wonder whether we would have to go into sidebar again for that or if we could do it without mentioning the name. I don't know if you have any views on that. It might not -- we might just as well, I guess, do a quick sidebar and then we could be less oblique about the discussion.
MS. CLARKE: Right.
THE COURT: All right. Have her come in, and we'll get to that point and then do another sidebar. Okay.
(In open court:)
COURT CLERK: Juror No. 520.
COURT CLERK: Juror 520.
(The juror enters the courtroom.)
COURT CLERK: Ma'am, over here, if you would. Have a seat. Keep your voice up and speak into the mic so everyone can hear you.
JUROR: Okay.
THE COURT: Good morning.
JUROR: Hi.
THE COURT: Have you been able to avoid any discussion of the substance of the case with anybody since the last time you were here?
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: And as much as possible avoid seeing any news accounts or media reporting on the case?
JUROR: Sure.
THE COURT: Okay. We've put before you the questionnaire that you filled out when you were here. We're going to follow up on some of the information in the questionnaire.
Did you have your vacation in January?
JUROR: I did.
THE COURT: And that was the only concern you had about serving on the case, was that it would interfere -- you might have that problem?
JUROR: Yeah. I also baby-sit my grandkids, but...
THE COURT: But in terms of work, it won't be an impact for you at work?
JUROR: It will. I'll have to work around it.
THE COURT: But you think you can?
JUROR: Probably -- yeah.
THE COURT: Okay. So tell us what you do. It's interesting. You are a radar operator?
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: What does that involve?
JUROR: I run three different radars. They're in western Mass. We run them from Lexington also. So we track satellites.
THE COURT: Where are you located, in one of those towns?
JUROR: I live in Westford. I sometimes work in Westford, sometimes in Lexington.
THE COURT: But you don't work at the -- this is the Lincoln Labs, right, which is affiliated with MIT?
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: You don't work at the MIT campus?
JUROR: No.
THE COURT: You've been doing this for some time?
JUROR: 36, I think, years.
THE COURT: We asked about social media use. You say you use Facebook two to three times a month?
JUROR: Yeah, not really that much. I just use it to look at pictures of my grandkids when my daughter posts things on there.
THE COURT: You had a prior experience in, I guess, a state case as a juror?
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: When was that?
JUROR: Probably 25 years ago. My kids were little, so...
THE COURT: Where was it, do you remember? What court?
JUROR: Lowell.
THE COURT: Lowell District Court?
JUROR: Yeah, I think so.
THE COURT: So let me ask you to look at page 20, Question 77. We asked there whether, based on your -- things you'd seen or read in the media or had information about from other sources, you thought -- you had formed an opinion that the defendant was guilty or not and that he should receive the death penalty or not. And you said yes, you had formed an opinion that he was guilty.
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: And were unsure about the penalty?
JUROR: Right.
THE COURT: Below that we asked if you answered yes to any of these questions, would you be able or unable to set aside your opinion and base your decision about guilt or punishment solely on the evidence produced in the course of the trial, and there was a box "able" or "not able," and you didn't select either one.
I wonder if you could tell us now whether you would be able to set any opinion aside or unable to do so.
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: Yes, what?
JUROR: Able.
THE COURT: Okay. Why do you say that?
JUROR: I would have to see the evidence, I guess.
THE COURT: Okay. You've noted in the next question that -- you said, "I think everyone thinks he's guilty." Have people said things like that to you?
JUROR: Sure.
THE COURT: And as a matter of fact, if you want to go back to the previous page, Question 75 --
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: -- somebody has said it more dramatically?
JUROR: That was my ex-husband, yes.
THE COURT: Your ex-husband. Was that said seriously or in jest or hard to tell?
JUROR: In jest but maybe seriously also.
THE COURT: Would it affect you?
JUROR: No, what he -- no.
THE COURT: So anyway, to come back to whether an opinion would affect you, you know that in a criminal case a person -- I guess you sat on that case a while ago, but it is a while ago. So you know that a person accused of a crime is presumed to be not guilty, or innocent, unless the government proves that the person is guilty by sufficient evidence at trial to convince the jury of that fact beyond a reasonable doubt.
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: You're familiar with those principles?
Would you be able, as a juror in this case, to put aside anything you might already think about the case and focus only on the evidence produced at the trial and make a decision based on that information and no other information?
JUROR: I think so.
THE COURT: We asked in Question 80 if people you knew were -- had witnessed the explosions at the marathon or -- the response to them, "In person." Could you maybe refresh your recollection by reading that and then telling us what you were referring to.
JUROR: Read it first?
THE COURT: Yeah, just so you remember what you said.
JUROR: Oh, yeah. There were two people that I work with that go every year for opening day, the Red Sox. And they go to the marathon first. I don't know if it's opening day, but they go to the Red Sox game and see the marathon.
And they were walking in for a drink, and the bar stopped, they saw everything on TV. And then they had to try to get out of town without their cell phones working.
THE COURT: Okay. And they told you about that afterwards? That's how you know about it?
JUROR: Yeah.
THE COURT: Have you had any other -- when was that? When did they talk to you about it, the next day or --
JUROR: Maybe not the next day. Maybe within a month or two.
THE COURT: Okay. Have you had any further talk with them about their experience that day?
JUROR: No. One of them doesn't work there anymore, and I don't really see the other one that often.
THE COURT: Okay. Let me ask you to look at Question 82. You ran in a Run to Remember? Can you tell us about the Run to Remember Race?
JUROR: That was last May.
THE COURT: May of 2014?
JUROR: Correct.
THE COURT: That was a year after the marathon?
JUROR: Yeah. He ran in it that same year; I ran in it the year after.
THE COURT: Okay. What was it? Who organized it?
JUROR: I'm not sure. I think the Boston police ran it, and we just ran in it. And we knew -- the head of the Boston police is also at the MIT Quarter Century Club that I belong to. After 25 years you join --
THE COURT: I'll come to that in a minute. I just wanted to learn a little more about the race. Where was it?
JUROR: Right here.
THE COURT: Right outside the courthouse? Where was the course, along the waterfront or --
JUROR: No, through town.
THE COURT: Okay. You also said you have a medal and a Sean Collier T-shirt. Was that associated with the race, those things?
JUROR: Yeah.
THE COURT: The runners got those things; is that it?
JUROR: No, we actually got the T-shirts from the MIT guy.
THE COURT: Okay. Let's do a brief sidebar.
COURT CLERK: Cut.
(Discussion at sidebar and out of the hearing of the public:)
THE COURT: Sidebar means that people who aren't directly involved leave the room and we stop the audio broadcast to the others --
JUROR: Okay.
THE COURT: -- because we want to talk about potential evidence in the case.
So look at page 22. So you recognize a person on the witness list? And this is the person you started to tell us about?
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: Just how do you know him and how well do you know him?
JUROR: I met him three or four times, I guess, at the Quarter Century Club dinners that they have.
THE COURT: This celebrates longevity in affiliation?
JUROR: Yeah.
THE COURT: Okay. And was he at the race that you were talking about?
JUROR: I didn't see him at the race, no.
THE COURT: Oh, okay. I thought you started to say something about him in the race.
JUROR: Oh, no. He just gave us the T-shirt ahead of time.
THE COURT: I see. So this Quarter Century Club kind of sponsored a memorial to Sean Collier. Is that it?
JUROR: Uh-huh.
THE COURT: You have to say "yes" --
JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: -- for the court reporter.
Okay.
MS. CLARKE: Thank you, your Honor.
THE COURT: That's good. Thank you.
COURT CLERK: Back on.