Published: July 02, 2008 11:24 pm         

Jury selection ends

A jury is expected to be seated today from a pool of 41 prospective jurors to hear the death penalty case against Jes-sie Floyd Johns.

Johns, 57, is accused of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Amber Matthews and the wounding of Lauren Drue Kopf in Novem-ber 2005 in Blaine County.

Another man, Wendell Ar-den Grissom, was convicted in March in the case and sentenced to death.

The jury pool was chosen Wednesday following three days of jury selection. Pros-pective jurors were asked about relationships with possible witnesses in the case, their views on the death penalty and their ability to provide a fair trial.

The final jury will include 12 jurors and two alternates and will be selected from the pool of 41 who return for further interviews this morning.

Thirteen more people were selected for the pool selection Thursday from a list of 33 names pulled from a hopper.

During initial questioning about death penalty views by presiding District Judge Ron-ald Franklin, one was excused because he said he could consider only the death penalty as a possible punishment if Johns was found guilty. Five others were excused shortly after because each said they could not consider a death sentence under any circumstances.

Assistant District Attorney Mike Fields asked the remaining jury prospects to gauge stances on issues such as the death penalty and which three objectives of justice were most important to them: rehabilitation, deterrence or punishment.

Defense Attorney Craig Corgan posed a hypothetical situation involving a “guilty murderer,” someone who committed a malicious and premeditated murder, and a “non-killer or non-triggerman,” who merely was present during a murder. He asked prospective jurors their thoughts on the death penalty for each situation.

Kopf previously has testified Grissom shot her and Matthews while they were in Kopf’s home and she never saw Johns in the house.

Johns faces death, life in prison or life without parole on the first-degree murder charge.

In addition to first-degree murder and shooting with intent to kill charges, Johns also is charged with counts of grand larceny and possessing a firearm after a felony conviction.

During jury selection, Johns sat in the courtroom taking occasional notes and conferring with defense counsel.