April 21
April 21, 2009Lafourche voters to decide three tax renewal issues
April 23, 2009
Juror selection began last Thursday in Thibodaux in the capital murder trial of Amy Hebert, the Mathews mother accused of killing her two children in 2007.
The number of jurors who will return on April 28 for the second phase of jury selection is still unknown. Of the first 300 Lafourche Parish residents who appeared in court last week, 21 have been ordered to return.
District Judge Jerome Barbera said from his chambers Monday morning. “There are a few more residents that will have to go through the first phase of jury selection.”
The judge gave no specific reason why the jury selection process is being broken into two phases.
The selection process began with Barbera, Lafourche Parish District Attorney Cam Morvant II and defense attorney Richard Goorley with the Capital Assistance Program of Louisiana asking potential jurors a series of questions.
About 450 Lafourche Parish residents received orders to appear in court. The first 300 potential jurors were interviewed between Thursday and Monday. As of press time, 30 more jurors were being interviewed on Monday, with another 150 waiting to be interviewed.
Barbera said that interviews could last through Friday.
Hebert, 42, is charged with the stabbing deaths of her 9-year-old daughter Camille and 7-year-old son Braxton inside their home on St. Anthony Street on Aug. 20, 2007.
Hebert entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity to two counts of first-degree murder in connection with her children’s deaths. If a jury convicts Hebert of the charges, prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.
Defense attorneys tried to have the trial moved from Lafourche Parish, claiming heavy coverage from newspapers, television and radio prejudiced potential jurors in the parish. However, the state’s First Circuit Court of Appeal ruled against such a move.
Barbera said the First Circuit ruling allows for a trial court to reexamine the need for a change of venue if an impartial trial cannot be held in Lafourche Parish.
