JACKSON – Mississippi lawmakers are considering a bill that could have an impact on the long-running capital murder case of a Montgomery County man accused of killing four people nearly 15 years ago.
Curtis Flowers has been to trial five times for the execution-style murders of four people at Tardy Furniture Store in Winona, in 1996. Three trials resulted in convictions which were later overturned, and two resulted in a hung jury. Flowers is set to be tried an unprecedented sixth time in June 2010.
Sen. Lydia Chassaniol, R-Winona, introduced Senate Bill 2135 that says “Jurors may be drawn from an entire circuit court district for trials conducted in circuit court.”
Currently, jurors are sought from the county in which the crime occurred.
The Senate reportedly approved the bill in a vote of 34 to 15, and it now has to go before the House of Representatives. A similar bill filed last year passed the Senate but was killed in the House.
Montgomery County Circuit Clerk Lanelle Martin said Montgomery County has an estimated population of 12,300 people, with just under 8,000 being registered voters and eligible for jury duty. Martin said the Flowers case has nearly depleted Montgomery County’s jury pool, and this is one reason why legislators are being asked to expand the jury pool selection process.
“You have to stop and think of those who are over 65,” Martin said. “You also have to be at least 21 to vote, and then you have to consider those related to the victim, those related to the defendant and those in law enforcement. You are reducing your available jury pool tremendously.”
The Associated Press reported that Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood, and Sen. Johnnie Walls, D-Greenville, opposed the measure.
Walls argued there was already a mechanism in place to ensure defendants are treated fairly because judges can order that the cases be heard outside of the county in other areas of the state.
Flowers’ defense trials have cost Montgomery County taxpayers about $300,000. Three trials were held in Montgomery County, one in Tupelo and one in Biloxi. Montgomery County Circuit Clerk Tee Golding said trials held outside of the county cost more because of extra expenses for traveling, food and lodging.
“The biggest problem I see is that we’ve been asked to do it because of one case because a person could not be convicted in the way the prosecution wanted the case to go,” Walls told the Associated Press. “They seem to be trying to get a special consideration for this case.”
In September 2009, more than 600 potential jurors from Montgomery County were summoned for the Flowers trial, with the majority of those being dismissed during the voire dire process. They were disqualified because: They had prior knowledge of the case; they were friends or relatives of the suspect; they were friends or relatives of one of the victims; or because they had already formed an opinion about the case.
During that trial, two jurors who made it to the panel, James Franklin Bibbs and Mary Annette Purnell, were each charged with perjury after the court learned that Bibbs had prior knowledge of the case and reportedly tried to introduce it to the jury, and that Purnell was an acquaintance of Flowers and his family.
Charges against Bibbs were dismissed and Purnell is currently serving 15 months in jail.
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