BROOKVILLE – According to WJACTV.com, Jefferson County courtroom was half-full Monday morning as potential jurors arrived for jury selection.
Officials told 6 News that 66 people were present for the first day of jury selection.
The group of men and women would be interviewed for the trial of Steven Rebert.
Officials said Rebert faces two murder charges in the deaths of Victoria and Wayne Shugar. Police said the Brockway husband and wife were found dead in their basement April 12, 2010.
The Shugars were well-known in Brockway from their business.
On Monday, potential jurors were just some of the 500 people that were called for selection, according to officials.
Judge John H. Foradora told the group that the trial could start any day.
Once a jury is selected, the trial will start the next day, he said.
Foradora told potential jurors and the press that the trial is scheduled to take the rest of the month.
Foradora noted that this jury selection is out of the ordinary, and a court clerk said this is only the third murder trial in 10 years in the county.
The first thing ordered by the court was for potential jurors who did not believe they could be a good fit for the trial to come forward. About 20 people stepped forward.
One by one, potential jurors were interviewed by Foradora, District Attorney Jeffrey Burkett and public defenders John Ingros, Jacqueline Mizerock and Michael Marshall.
Attorneys asked each potential juror a series of questions, some interviews taking around one hour. The interview questions were provided to 6 News. However, due to the ongoing selection process, those questions will not be disclosed.
From about 10 a.m. until lunch recess at 2:30 p.m., six potential jurors were interviewed. At that point, only one juror had been chosen.
Foradora said 16 people will be chosen for the trial. There will be 12 jurors and four alternates because it is a double murder trial.
