Community Corner
Jury Selection Underway for Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair Trial
The jury panel will be made up of 12 general levels officers with two-thirds of the panel needed for a conviction.
The second day of jury selection began at 9a.m. on Wednesday at Fort Bragg's courthouse. 12 jurors are expected to be selected with another 14 as alternates. Five of the jurors are required to be females and they all must be senior in rank to the one-star general officer.
“Today’s proceedings confirm what we suspected: it’s going to be very challenging to seat a jury. We’ve been convinced all along that evidence in the case is marginal at best. As the judge reminded prospective jurors today, the defense doesn’t have an obligation to prove guilt or innocence – the entire burden of evidence rests with the prosecution, and their case is thin," said lead counsel Richard Scheff. "It rests entirely on one witness, who has contradicted herself and changed her story in multiple different ways. All we need is an impartial jury, and we’ll get an acquittal. But seating that jury will be a challenge.”
Scheff stated in a Fayetteville Observer news report on Tuesday that none of the potential 12 jurors were fit to be seated. Five of the potential jurors said they knew Sinclair.
The court-martial for Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair is set for Sept. 30. Sinclair is facing sexual assault charges stemming from an admitted three-year adulterous relationship, but plead not guilty to the other charges.
Evidence presented in texts and emails seem to paint the relationship as completely consensual, but one female captain claims she was forced to have oral sex on two occasions over the course of a deployment to Afghanistan in 2011 and 2012.
A sentence of life in prison is the maximum penalty that Sinclair could be facing.
Scheff stated in a Fayetteville Observer news report on Tuesday that none of the potential 12 jurors were fit to be seated. Five of the potential jurors said they knew Sinclair.
The court-martial for Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair is set for Sept. 30. Sinclair is facing sexual assault charges stemming from an admitted three-year adulterous relationship, but plead not guilty to the other charges.
Evidence presented in texts and emails seem to paint the relationship as completely consensual, but one female captain claims she was forced to have oral sex on two occasions over the course of a deployment to Afghanistan in 2011 and 2012.
A sentence of life in prison is the maximum penalty that Sinclair could be facing.
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