The court has just halted today’s jury selection proceedings until tomorrow, after Joseph Duncan’s standby attorneys tried to withdraw from the case and the judge refused to allow them to. Before the clash between the attorneys and the judge, the court had called in 24 of the 26 previously approved jurors, and questioned them about whether they can still serve. Four said no and were excused – two because they said they’ve now made up their minds and would give Duncan the death penalty, without having yet heard any evidence. One has a baby due in a few days. The fourth was a woman who said she couldn’t be an impartial juror if Duncan, acting as his own attorney, were allowed to question his sole surviving victim, 11-year-old Shasta Groene. “If he’s able to come face to face with the little girl … I think that’s ethically wrong. It’s not right, it’s not fair,” she said. “It’s like abusing her again. I feel extremely strongly about that. I think it’s wrong.”

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