Eleven men and five woman were chosen Thursday to sit on a jury that will hear arguments in Shelton Developer James Botti’s federal money structuring trial next month.
Over the course of four hours, court officials at the U.S. District Court in New Haven systematically whittled down a group of more than 100 people to chose those 16.
The trial starts Nov. 2 and is expected to last four to seven business days.
Botti, a Shelton developer, was charged in November 2008 with conspiracy to defraud the citizens of Shelton, bribery of a public official, mail fraud, conspiracy to structure cash deposits, structuring and two counts of making false statements to the Internal Revenue Service.
The charges stem from three retail projects Botti developed on Bridgeport Avenue in Shelton between 2002 and 2006.
Senior District Judge Charles S. Haight agreed to split the charges up into two trials — the first of which is to hear the money structuring charges.
Most news-savvy residents in the Shelton area are familiar with the case, But the details were foreign to the roughly 100 people brought in for jury selection Thursday.
As Judge Haight proceeded through the selection process, he slowly revealed details of the case to the potential jurors through the questions he asked them.
Phase 1: The questions must be just right.
Before jurors were brought into the court room, attorneys for each side debated some of the wording in the questions they would be asking.
For example, one question indicated that there has been press coverage of the case. The attorneys discussed whether that wording was enough to pique a juror’s interest to seek out those articles online.
“To tell someone there have been media reports is asking for trouble,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Schecter said.
The wording was taken out of the question.
Phase 2: The potential jurors must be in the country during the trial.
After the brief hearing on question wording, a court official led the 100-plus potential jurors into the courtroom. They squeezed into pew-like rows in the courtroom audience and overflowed into the jury box.
“You are making our Constitution work in this time and this place by your service,” Judge Haight told the jurors, thanking them for their patience and their participation.
Then he asked whoever had a scheduling conflict between now and the middle of November to stand up and explain it.
Medical appointments, vacations, business trips out of the country, care of elderly parents — those engagements got 15 excused right away. One of the people said he knew Botti, and was excused.
Phase 3: The real questioning begins
Court officials moved 36 of the remaining people into the juror box area (there were several chairs placed in front of the actual jury box), and started asking them a series of 15 questions, one person at a time.
They were asked about their occupation, family, experience in the court system, relationship with police officers or lawyers, medical problems.
A handful of people were eliminated in this phase.
One said his friend had been convicted of tax evasion and embezzlement. After a short, private conference with the judge and the attorneys for both sides, that man was relieved of his jury duty.
As potential jurors were excused, a new juror took their place on the hot seat.
Phase 4: Do you know this guy?
In this round of questioning, Judge Haight introduced the legal teams for each side, and had each attorney and Botti stand before the potential jurors to see if anyone knew them.
Only one juror raised her hand.
A woman said she had a mutual friend of Botti’s attorney, William Dow.
Judge Haight asked if that would that get in the way of her being able to objectively hear this case.
“I would have a hard time answering that honestly,” the woman said. “It would be a little awkward.”
After another short, private conference, she was also excused.
At this point, Judge Haight also read a list of potential witnesses, quickly naming several people.
Although read into the record, the list, which included Botti’s ex-wife Kelly and his father, was not made public Thursday.
At least one of the witnesses formerly associated with Botti and has received immunity in exchange for testimony. Other sealed documents in the case also remained sealed Thursday.
Phase 5: The selection
The 36 remaining jurors waited while attorneys shuffle through notes and paperwork.
Dow kept track of juror answers with a spreadsheet highlighted with bright pinks and yellows. The U.S. attorneys had an empty envelope with dozens of small sticky notes arranged inside.
After about 20 minutes of discussion, the 16 jurors were selected.
Judge Haight told them not to read any articles about the case, or to talk about it with anyone.
