There was an audible collective sigh of relief this morning from the people in the jury pool who were not selected to fulfill their civic duty from the jury box in the double-murder trial of Jason Anthony Warren. The sigh was followed by a small wave of laughter. Clearly no one was actually hoping to be selected for a case scheduled to last nearly seven more weeks, a case that involves the murder of two women in two separate locations, with special allegations of torture and lying in wait.

During the morning session defense attorney Glenn Brown and prosecutor Paul Sequeira took turns questioning potential alternate jury members on some fundamental concepts expected to come into play during the case, including premeditation and witness credibility.

Both Brown and Sequeira exercised a few peremptory strikes before settling on six alternate jurors to complement the dozen regular jury members selected earlier. Brown excused an Air Force veteran, a retired law enforcement dispatcher and a supervisor at Green Diamond Resource Co. while Sequeira dismissed a young social worker, a man who complained about the potential time commitment and a woman who’d expressed concern about the death penalty. (Judge Timothy Cissna assured her and the rest of the jury pool that this is not a death penalty case.)

After the jury alternates had been finalized, Cissna told them to come back tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 8:30 a.m., at which point they’ll receive further instructions and opening arguments in the case will commence. Cissna said that the trial is expected to remain on schedule, with a projected end date of Friday, Dec. 11.

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