Jury In Bombing, Bank Robbery Trial Sworn In Panel Members Who Will Hear Case Against 3 Idaho Men Come From Outside Spokane Area
No one from the Spokane area is on a jury that will begin hearing testimony Monday in the case against three Idaho men charged with bombings and bank robberies last year.
The 12-member jury and four alternates were sworn in Friday after a two-day selection process before U.S. District Judge Frem Nielsen.
Those selected live 100 miles or more away from Spokane, a community rattled by the acts of domestic terrorism in April and July last year.
Two men and two women randomly were selected as alternates, but jurors won’t be told who among them are the alternates until deliberations begin.
The judge extensively questioned 73 prospective jurors about their willingness to follow the law and instructions from the court if they were selected.
Fewer than a half-dozen were dismissed because they had formed opinions about the case because of extensive news coverage.
Many, like a Columbia Basin farmer who ultimately was selected, said they knew “nothing whatsoever” about the bombing and bank robbery case.
The prospective jurors were told that a previous trial for Charles Barbee, Robert Berry and Verne Jay Merrell ended with a mistrial on April 2.
But they weren’t told that resulted from a hung jury, deadlocked in a 11-1 split, with the majority favoring conviction. At least three members of that panel were from Spokane, and the holdout was from Yakima.
The three Sandpoint men are charged with the April 1, 1996, bombing at the Spokane Valley office of The Spokesman-Review and the robbery and bombing at a nearby U.S. Bank branch.
They also are accused of the July 12 bombing of a Planned Parenthood clinic in the Spokane Valley and a second robbery at the same bank.
During the jury selection, no mention was made about a fourth defendant, Brian Ratigan, who was arrested midway through the first trial. He now faces a separate trial in September.
Nielsen told jurors they are “duty-bound to accept and follow the law as given you by the court.”
The judge asked if anyone was familiar with a book called “Citizens Rule Book,” which is often given away at gun shows and militia and patriot meetings. No one responded.
Copies of the book were found by FBI agents during searches of homes and vehicles belonging to the three suspects arrested Oct. 8.
“If only one juror should vote ‘not guilty’ for any reason, there is no conviction and no punishment at the end of the trial,” the booklet says.
It also preaches that citizens must decide what’s law, and not listen to jury instructions from a judge.
But Nielsen warned the panel that jurors do not have that discretion.
“If you have those kind of feelings, you must reveal it,” he said. “If you hold those feelings or beliefs, you wouldn’t be qualified to serve as a juror on this case.”
, DataTimes