Jury selection in the Mark Becker trial may wrap up tonight

Jury selection in the Mark Becker trial may wrap up tonight.

Second Judicial District Judge Stephen Carroll just announced that there will be a few more people individually questioned and then the attorneys would selection a jury. He said they wouldn't go too late but thought the rest of the jury pool might prefer to stay later tonight, so they didn't have to return Friday.

The prosecution finished their questioning after the lunch break and Susan Flander, Becker's attorney, had her opportunity. Her questions turned more serious later in the afternoon after spending a lot of time asking jurors in the Mark Becker murder case odd questions like how they organize their sock drawers.

Flander asked jurors if they had to make a decision today if Becker was guilty, what would they determine?

Some said hes guilty from what theyve read in newspapers and seen on television. Others said they havent heard any evidence yet.

Flander then asked what if the state proves Becker committed the crime, would they consider hes guilty by reason of insanity?

Some said they would need more information.

Flander was attempting to find out if a fair and impartial jury can be seated in this county. She wanted to know how much they had followed the case and how much of the pretrial publicity had affected them.

She also asked questions regarding the expert witnesses who will testify about Beckers mental condition. She asked one juror if the experts had conflicting views, could he listen to both, listen to the judges instruction and then judge their credibility.

The juror said he could.

Flander then asked if anybody had a close friend or family member with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.

Two in the panel said they had family members who had a personality disorder and suffered from bipolar disease.

Becker was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia, according to testimony at his competency hearing last year.

Lawyers continue to question potential jurors in Mark Becker murder trial

The defense started questioning the prospective jurors this afternoon in the first-degree murder trial of Mark Becker.

There were just two more jurors dismissed, which is a total of five for the day, after individual questioning before the prosecution passed the questioning to Susan Flander, Becker's attorney.

Flander is telling the panel about herself. She's from Winterset and just sharing some trivia about her hometown.

She has started out asking some unusual questions like were would each of them prefer to be this week, instead of Butler County. Some say Alaska, Canada, Utah, Scotland, Arizona and Colorado.

One juror, who is about 6 foot something said he would like to be three rows forward, so he could have some leg room. Everybody, including the judge, laughed.

Flander is probably attempting to get to know them, figure out how they think and maybe, testing their memory. She's asking some of the men if they can tell her their colors used at their weddings.

The other questions she asked each juror was about organization. She wanted to know how their sock drawers and closets were arranged. .

The judge just called for a break and Flander will continue her questioning.

Mark Becker jury selection focusing on possible relationships

Only one woman said she didn't know much about the Mark Becker murder case as questioning of 36 prospective jurors resumed this morning in Butler County.

Assistant Attorney General Andy Prosser started questioning jurors about any relationships they had with Becker or Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas and how much each of them know about the case and where they found out the information.

Prosser said the case is so well-publicized that everybody may have some knowledge of it, but that he wants to find out if that knowledge has influenced potential jurors or would it make it impossible for them to be fair and impartial.

Most people said their knowledge wouldn't prevent them from being a juror, but some said it would. Those people will be questioned individually by the judge and attorneys after this morning's break.

One man said he didn't think he could "flush" all the information hes heard. He said he would try, but couldn't guarantee it.

Prosser told him they aren't asking for guarantees, just for them to try to put aside what they know and listen to the facts as presented in court.

Prosser went through many of the prosecution's witnesses, such as the sheriff, an investigator, a woman who lives across the street from the high school, a school custodian, and several students who were in the weight room on June 24 when Thomas was shot.

Potential jurors said they didn't have a problem not talking to these witnesses during the case, and their relationships with them wouldn't influence their verdict if they are chosen.

There were 173 members of the jury pool who came in today. About 39 were dismissed from the 220 called Wednesday.

Becker, 24, is accused of shooting Thomas multiple times in the weight room, with 20 students in the room. Becker has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.