Jury Likely to Be Seated After Just Two Days in John Wiley Price Corruption Trial

A jury is likely to be seated by Wednesday in the federal corruption trial of John Wiley Price and his top assistant, as questions of race, justice and fairness helped whittle down the large pool of prospective jurors on Tuesday. Jury selection opened with 70 people Tuesday morning in U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn's courtroom. Lynn said it was the largest group she's ever had for jury selection in a trial. The jury of 12 as well as several alternate jurors could be picked by the end of Wednesday.The importance of minority contracting is expected to be a defense strategy. Price's attorneys also are likely to argue that Price's alleged actions happened too long ago to be eligible for criminal charges. Prosecutors say Price, 66, took $950,000 in bribes over a decade in the form of cash, cars and land. He is charged with bribery, mail fraud and tax evasion. His executive assistant, Dapheny Fain, 55, is accused of helping him.Most of the prospective jurors said they had heard of the Price case, but just a handful voiced a favorable opinion of the longtime county commissioner when asked.One of them said he thought Price did a good job for his community, such as taking measures to "advance civil rights."  Continue reading...