No Jurors Yet in Carruth Murder Trial

ByABC News
October 23, 2000, 11:15 AM

C H A R L O T T E, N.C., Oct. 24 -- No jurors were selected in the second dayof the first-degree murder trial of ex-NFL player Rae Carruth,charged with masterminding a plot to kill his pregnant girlfriend.

No jurors were selected in the first day either.

By mid-afternoon Tuesday, nearly 20 potential jurors wereexcused by Superior Court Judge Charles Lamm. Most of themexpressed their opposition to the death penalty.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Carruth could be sentencedto death.

The slow pace of the jury selection process comes as nosurprise. Attorneys on both sides have predicted it would take atleast two weeks to seat a jury for the high-profile murder trial.

Court TV Access an Issue

Much of Monday morning was taken up with defense motions, includingone that Carruth’s co-defendants be moved to another jail so theycould not watch the proceedings on Court TV.

Prosecutors added the names of co-defendants Michael Eugene Kennedy and Stanley Drew “Boss” Abraham as possible witnesses.

Their main witness is expected to be Carruth’s thirdco-defendant, Van Brett Watkins, whose name was already on thewitness list. Watkins, the admitted triggerman, pleaded guilty tosecond-degree murder and agreed to testify against Carruth.

Defense attorneys David Rudolf and Chris Fialko asked that allthree co-defendants be moved to another county jail where theywould not have access to Court TV, which will televise the trial.

Superior Court Judge Charles Lamm denied the motion but asked asheriff’s deputy to determine if the three can be denied access toCourt TV. Witnesses are often barred from attending trials beforetaking the stand in order to make sure other people’s testimonydoesn’t influence them.

Lamm also denied two other defense motions: one to have thecourt reporter list the race of potential jurors and one not torequire the jurors to say they could hand down a death sentence ifappropriate. The defense said Carruth should face no more than alife sentence since that’s the worst Watkins faces.