Notes on Jury Selection in the Anne Pressly Trial, Lemaricus Davidson’s Knoxville Horror Trial Strategy, and the Coming Trial of George Thomas

Eary Thursday, my reader and unofficial research assistant, “D” wrote,

Here (http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/tennessee/110309_pressly_jury_selection_continues) is an account of the first two days of jury selection in the Anne Pressly trial. Click on the video, in which several blacks say a "fair trial" is impossible. Eight jurors were selected on Monday, 5 white men and 3 black women, none on Tuesday. The prosepective jurors are being excused on the death penalty issue or on "fairness."

[NS: With three black women among the first eight chosen (i.e., 37.5 percent), or even among the entire 12, you can forget about the death penalty. Note too that with Little Rock 80 percent white and 15.7 black, someone is killing himself to load up the jury with blacks.]

Returning to the Knoxville Horror for a moment, Davidson seems to have felt that opinion would turn against the victims if the "they were buying drugs" defense was used. The defense attorneys supposedly have to use the defense their client insists on. It could have been an appealable issue if they hadn't gone with Davidson's story. I believe Davidson wanted to go even farther with the idea that Channon had been "dating" him. Since Baumgartners rulings went to the defense so often, we can hope it stands up on appeal.

The jury for [Knoxville Horror co-defendant] George Thomas is coming from Chattanooga, which is about 20% black.

[D]