The jury pool for the first trial was selected from among 150 potential DC jurors based on their responses to a written questionnaire. The document focused on issues such as their availability and potential knowledge of the defendants, witnesses and lawyers in the case, and their views on the Jan. 6 riot.
The judge said Tuesday that in the initial questionnaire, 59% of 150 said they had heard of the oath keepers, and 55% said they had attended at least some of the public hearings held this year by a House committee investigating the events surrounding the January 6 attack. But only 24% said it they heard the Oathkeepers might affect their ability to be righteous, and 5% said what they heard about individual defendants could affect their ability to be fair, the judge said.
Rhodes and the others are accused of conspiring to use force to oppose the legal transfer of power to President Biden. Prosecutors said his group called for civil war and organized gunfire near DC on Jan. 6, when supporters of then-President Donald Trump attacked the Capitol. A 44-page indictment alleges the group went to the Capitol ready “to heed Rhodes’ call to arms”, and that several passed through the gates of the East Capitol Rotunda wearing camouflage vests, helmets, goggles and oath-keeper badges.
Rhodes and others have pleaded not guilty to all charges, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. They say they acted defensively in case Trump invoked the Insurrection Act to call in private militias to overturn the 2020 election results and prevent Biden from becoming president, and are prepared to assert that they stand rely on the advice of their lawyer.
Giving potential insight into whether Rhodes or those on trial with him will end up taking the stand, Phillip A. Linder, Rhodes’ attorney, reminded several potential jurors that defendants have a right to remain silent and a asked: “If two defendants testify and three testify. no, will that change things?
Mehta said he expects the selection of a 12-member jury plus four alternates to take at least two days, meaning opening statements would not begin until Thursday or – since the proceedings will not have not Friday – early next week.
In the preliminary hearings, lawyers have already haggled over who should be excluded from sitting on the panel. Prosecutors and defense attorneys have agreed to disbar 13 prospective jurors for various reasons. Rhodes asked to disqualify another 72 of those who remained, but Mehta agreed to dismiss only 16 and said the rest would be vetted in person.
It is not uncommon for defendants in high-profile lawsuits to claim that potential jurors harbor “extreme bias” or hostility towards them.
Supreme Court case law holds that being impartial does not mean that jurors must be ignorant. Appeals court rulings indicate that the issue is not what potential jurors know about the case or think of the defendants in general, but whether they are so biased against those on trial that they do not cannot be impartial in deciding whether they are guilty of the charges.
Mehta said on Tuesday that a third of the 29 people initially excused were for reasons of bias, a third for unavailability and a third for various other reasons. The judge dismissed defense claims that more than half of the jury panel was biased and that an impartial jury could not be seated.
The judge disqualified three of the first nine potential jurors who appeared before lunch Tuesday, including one who was a former House staffer and another who said he believed participants in the Capitol riot would have were treated much differently if they were black. Those who remain eligible to be chosen include a registered nurse, a human resources staff member for a non-profit organization linked to the construction industry, a retired restaurant manager and a man with a master’s degree in public policy and theology.
