The trial for Laurence Allen Lovette, Jr., who is accused of killing former student body president Eve Carson, is expected to begin today.
Lovette has been charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and other charges associated with Carson’s 2008 killing.
The jury box is complete with 12 jurors. But two of three alternate jurors need to be selected before testimonies begin.
The jury is mostly white, with one black male. The only confirmed alternate juror is a white female, further tilting the racial makeup away from the defendant, a black male.
District Attorney Jim Woodall and Karen Bethea-Shields, Lovette’s defense attorney, both declined to comment on their opinion of the jury.
The trial should last about three weeks once it begins, said Judge Allen Baddour.