Jury Selection Starts in Sarasota Death Penalty Trial

A Sarasota courtroom is the scene for an intense jury selection this week. Almost 500 potential jurors were called to be examined in the death penalty case against Michael King. King is accused of the kidnapping, rape and murder of Denise Amber Lee nearly two years ago.

In addition to the length of the trial and the amount of local pre-trial publicity, attorneys also have to inquire about each potential juror’s opinions on capital punishment. On the first day of jury selection, more than two dozen potential jurors were dismissed because of what they knew of the case from media reports or their views on the death penalty. Almost 40 potential jurors had health or job reasons for not being able to serve for up to three weeks.

In some ways, the jury for a death penalty case is no different than any other criminal jury. The job is the same – listen impartially to the evidence and determine guilt after deliberation – and yet it is entirely different at the same time. A “death-qualified” jury, if they decide that a defendant is guilty, must then listen to a hearing on the penalty and decide whether or not to recommend that the defendant be executed.

In order to choose 12 qualified jurors (plus some alternates), attorneys must question all potential jurors regarding their thoughts and opinions about capital punishment. As one might imagine, jurors often have very strong opinions about the death penalty – one way or the other. People who do not believe that the death penalty is ever warranted, in any case, cannot sit on a death penalty jury. Conversely, people who believe that every homicide warrants execution of the perpetrator are alos barred from these juries. Qualified jurors must be able to follow the law as it pertains to punishment.

As Florida state law allows for imposition of the death penalty under certain conditions – the jury must weigh specific aggravating factors against specific mitigating factors, keeping their minds open while listening to the evidence. Anyone who couldn’t keep an open mind either way will not be seated on the jury.

In this Sarasota case, prosecutors allege that King abducted Lee from her North Port home on the afternoon of January 17, 2008. Prosecutors say that she was sexually assaulted, then shot and buried in a nearby wooded area. Her two young sons were found alone in her home later that day, sparking a law enforcement search for Lee.

About three hours into the search, Lee called 911 from King’s cell phone. King apparently lived about two miles from Lee. He was arrested later that night but Lee was not in the car. King exercised his constitutional rights and refused to speak with investigators.

Lee’s body was discovered two days later in a shallow grave in woods near an unfinished road about half a mile from where King was arrested.

The case stayed in the news when it became known that a Tampa woman had called the Charlotte County 911 center on the night of the murder, reporting a small hand striking the window in the back seat of a dark-colored Camaro and an apparent altercation in the car. The dispatch center never relayed this information to deputies on the street, who were looking for King and his green Camaro at the time.

King is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty after trial. The jury is expected to be seated by Friday. The trial is expected to last three weeks.