Interviews Focus On Social Issues Opening Statements Expected To Begin Monday

Lawyers Thursday completed the last round of individual questioning of prospective jurors for the trial of Moses Lake teenager Barry Loukaitis, who killed two classmates and a teacher last year in a junior high algebra class.

On Thursday afternoon, after excusing dozens of would-be jurors from an original pool of 108 people, defense lawyers and Grant County Prosecutor John Knodell gathered those remaining from the second and third batches for group questioning, to see where they stand on social issues.

Jurors’ positions on issues related to the case were initially assessed with questionnaires that dealt with such topics as guns, the judicial system, teachers, mental illness and the insanity defense.

The 16-year-old Loukaitis, who was 14 when the attack occurred, has admitted the shootings but is pleading innocent by reason of insanity.

Those excused so far have been released “for cause” - for viewpoints that suggest they could not be impartial - or for hardship reasons. The trial is expected to last four weeks.

On Friday, prosecutors and defense hope to select a final panel of 16 - 12 jurors and four alternates.

Opening statements are set for Monday.

Much of the follow-up questioning of jurors has concerned their responses to the insanity-defense question: “Do you believe the defense of insanity should be abolished in criminal cases?”

While many prospective jurors said they believe the defense is overused, most conceded that was a feeling and was not based on fact.

Those who consider an insanity defense “an excuse,” as one woman put it, were excused.

One woman - Juror No. 95 - said she would prefer “guilty but insane” to Washington’s “innocent by reason of insanity,” but expressed confidence that she could apply the law.

The questionnaire also asked jurors about their experiences with mental illness and mental health professionals.

Juror No. 85 was questioned about his discharge from the Air Force on grounds of schizophrenia - a diagnosis later disproved.

He said he felt no animosity toward the military doctors who misdiagnosed him or toward psychiatrists - several of whom will be called on for expert testimony during the trial.

Juror No. 87’s questionnaire disclosed she attended church with a distant relative of Natalie Hintz, who was shot in the Feb. 2, 1996, attack but survived. The juror was adamant that her acquaintance with the relative - both sing in the church choir - would not affect her objectivity.

Nor, she said firmly, would the fact that she had once taught or that her husband and daughter are teachers - despite the shootings’ classroom setting.

“Acts of violence occur anyplace,” she said. “I believe I could keep things separate.”

Kittitas County Superior Court Judge Michael Cooper rejected defense lawyer Michael Frost’s bid to have her excused.

Loukaitis is charged with three counts of aggravated first-degree murder in the deaths of Arnold Fritz and Manuel Vela, both 14, and teacher Leona Caires.

He is being tried as an adult and could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. Loukaitis also is charged with attempted first-degree murder, second-degree assault and 16 counts of kidnapping.