After a day-and-a-half of work, a jury has been seated in the trial of Joe Robidou, a former Sitka school administrator charged with sexual assault.
Between them, prosecutor Jean Seaton and defense attorney Julie Willoughby exhausted almost all of their peremptory challenges of potential jurors. The attorneys were not required to explain their reasons for excusing jurors. Each attorney was allowed up to 11 so-called “pre-empts.”
As he did Monday, Sitka Superior Court judge David George met with nearly every potential juror privately in his chambers at some point during juror questioning. The responses that typically triggered a meeting with the judge involved either prior experience with a sexual assault, or prior knowledge of the case as reported in local media.
14 jurors were selected to hear the entire trial, 2 of whom will be randomly chosen to serve as alternates when deliberations begin.
The remaining members of the jury pool were dismissed at 1 PM Tuesday. Opening arguments in the case are scheduled to begin at 2.
