Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 3, 1993 TAG: 9308030134
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
All of the prospective jurors said they could.
Early in the day, one woman was dismissed from the jury pool because she said her moral beliefs would prohibit her from considering the death penalty should Morehead be found guilty of capital murder in the June 1992 shooting death of Lorna Raines Crockett.
Crockett, 32, of Pulaski County, was married and the mother of three boys. She was abducted, robbed and killed as she made a night bank deposit for Shoe Show, the Hills Plaza store she had managed for about two weeks.
Morehead's trial on charges he robbed, abducted and killed Crockett gets under way this morning with opening statements by the prosecution and defense.
Morehead also faces charges of attempted robbery and conspiracy to rob Stuart Arbuckle, then a Domino's Pizza store manager who was almost robbed about five hours after Crockett was shot; and two counts of using a firearm to commit a crime.
Two other people - including Morehead's former girlfriend - already have been sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder.
William Ray Smith Jr., 19, of Pulaski County avoided a possible death sentence when he pleaded no contest to charges of first-degree murder, abduction, robbery and use of a firearm in Crockett's death.
He also pleaded no contest to a charge of conspiring to rob Arbuckle, attempted robbery and use of a firearm. Smith was sentenced to life in prison plus 70 years.
Katina Lynn Zelenak, 21, of Montgomery County was sentenced to life plus two years after pleading no contest to charges of first-degree murder, robbery and use of a firearm. A jury also found her guilty of the attempted robbery of Arbuckle, conspiracy and use of a firearm in the Blacksburg case.
It took all day Monday to select a jury to hear the Morehead case. A trial for him in April ended in a mistrial after the court learned one of the jurors was related to a victim of a Pulaski County robbery Morehead is charged with, and because Zelenak, while testifying, made reference to Pulaski County charges she and Morehead face.
Morehead's attorney, Jeff Rudd of Roanoke, sought this time to avoid the same result by questioning jurors individually in the judge's chambers.
But a problem developed early in the interviewing when court officials realized the prospective jurors were being called alphabetically instead of randomly as required by established jury selection rules.
The process began again after 23 new names were pulled from a box and the last of those 23 was interviewed shortly before 5 p.m.
Rudd and Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Keith selected eight women and five men to hear the case. One of those will be an alternate juror.
Through much of the interviewing Monday morning, Morehead sat holding a legal pad, but did not take any notes. He cracked a smile or two - along with everyone else in chambers - when light comments broke the monotony.
After 20 potential jurors were interviewed, Rudd renewed his previous motions for a change of venue for the trial. Morehead's attorney said too many of the jury pool knew too much about the case.
"Not one said they knew absolutely nothing about the case," Rudd told Judge Kenneth Devore. "Some even had detailed knowledge about the number of people involved" and other details of the case.
The jurors, Rudd said, would be unable to render a fair verdict because of their extensive knowledge of the case.
Devore disagreed and overruled the motion.
by CNB