Busing option considered for murder trial
BOISE – A judge is considering a plan to select jurors in Twin Falls, then bus them to Boise four days a week to decide the fate of a death row inmate charged in the 2003 rape and slaying of a Boise woman.
The proposal, spelled out Monday by 4th District Judge Thomas Neville, is an attempt to provide a fair trial for Erick Hall and keep the case in an Ada County courtroom, typically bigger and more technologically advanced than most across the state.
Hall is charged with first-degree murder in the rape and strangulation of Cheryl Ann Hanlon, whose body was found in March 2003 in the foothills north of Idaho’s capital city. He became one of the 19 inmates on Idaho’s death row after his conviction in the 2000 murder and rape of Lynn Henneman, a flight attendant whose body was discovered along the Boise greenbelt.
Detectives did not originally suspect a link between the two slayings, but after Hall was arrested and charged with Hanlon’s slaying, a DNA sample linked him to Henneman’s murder.
If he is convicted in Hanlon’s death, prosecutors are again seeking the death penalty.
Both sides were several days into jury selection in the Hanlon trial last month when Neville sided with a defense request for a venue change, saying the pool of potential jurors had been tainted by a headline in the Idaho Statesman linking Hall to Henneman’s murder.
Lawyers and court officials will take another week to study details and logistics of the alternative outlined at Monday’s hearing.
Based on the tentative plan, a jury would be selected from residents in Gooding County. Jurors would be bused 130 miles to Boise, hear testimony from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. then make the trip back to Twin Falls.
Neville said he would convene Monday through Thursday and give jurors a three-day weekend. The trial could last as long as three weeks.
“It’s a variation on a change of venue, but I think a thoughtful one,” Neville told lawyers. “If we have problems with people staying on a nice bus for 3 1/2 hours a day, (that) will be a show-stopper.”
Defense lawyers are still saying Hall’s trial should be moved to Lewiston or some other North Idaho courthouse. They said busing the jurors would create frustration or anger that could be directed at Hall.
Assistant Ada County Attorney Jan Bennetts said research showed widespread news coverage of the trial across the state.
“We run the risk of having the same issue anywhere in the state,” she told the judge.
Neville scheduled a May 14 hearing to approve final details. Trial could begin in September.