UM Grace Case

After a day and a half of questioning, the jury for the W.R. Grace & Co. trial has been selected. During recess, the attorneys had ruled out four of the potential alternates,  replaced them with four new potential jurors and the process began again.

Molloy connected with Juror 262, a bookkeeper for a Frenchtown school, when they bantered about Frenchtown-Malta (the Judge’s hometown) football matchups. But the connection was to be short-lived. While Juror 262 had no qualms about serving on a jury,  she was leaving in the morning for a three-week trip to Lake Havasu. After finishing his questioning of the other jurors, Molloy excused Juror 262, but jokingly warned her that he would send the marshals after her if no one else was acceptable.

Juror 262 was replaced by Juror 382, who ended up being chosen as an alternate juror, along with Jurors 150 and 200. A housewife, a math teacher and a retired Navy radio operator will represent the people should one of the other jurors be unable.

After the chosen jurors left the room, Molloy took the time to make sure those not chosen understood how much he appreciated their time. He explained that jury selection is “time-consuming but extraordinarily important.” His belief in role that the courts play in the democratic process came out repeatedly in his comments. And he evidently enjoyed questioning the jurors. “It was refreshing to have candid conversation with you.”

After the potential jurors left the courtroom, Molloy proposed swearing in the new jury today. One member of the defense team had an objection, saying he thought it best to wait until Monday in case one of the jurors didn’t show up. This very thing occurred today. One of the 12 selected didn’t show up to court this morning so he was replaced by another juror through a hurried challenge process.

Molloy acknowledged the concern but went ahead and had the jury sworn in. Then he reminded them of their conduct (”Don’t talk about the case; don’t listen to the media.”) and obligation. He left them with the advice, “Keep an open mind.” After the jury left, there was some discussion of afternoon deliberation and court was tentatively scheduled to reconvene at 3 p.m.

Laura L. Lundquist