Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of an ex-Fort Worth police officer charged with murder.
Aaron Dean faces a murder charge for the deadly shooting of Atatiana Jefferson on the early morning hours of Oct. 12, 2019. Jefferson was shot by Dean through a window of her mother’s home after a neighbor’s call to a non-emergency line over an open door at the home.
The call prompted police officers to respond.
“It is a case that rightfully has received a lot of attention and people have heard facts or circumstances surrounding what happened,” defense attorney Benson Varghese said.
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Varghese is not associated with the case, but he has been following it. He expects the jury pool Monday to be larger than the standard average of about 75 people.
“Both sides are going to have an opportunity to ask questions to see if this person can have an open mind. Particularly, in light of whether what the state wants to prove or the defense hopes to argue or discredit,” Varghese said.
The case had multiple delays due to the pandemic, scheduling conflicts, and various motions filed. Recently, Dean’s attorneys filed a motion in a second attempt to get the trial moved out of Tarrant County. They claim pre-trial publicity has been excessive and inflammatory, tainting a possible jury pool.
A final ruling on the motion has not been made as of Friday, though jury selection will proceed as scheduled on Monday. It is possible Judge George Gallagher has wait until jury selection is underway to make a decision on whether or not to grant the change of venue motion.
NBC 5 spoke with former Dallas County prosecutor Haim Vasquez, who is also not associated with the case, on what kinds of questions potential jurors will be asked.
“Questions we’re going to hear, what is their knowledge of the events that happened that night? If they have an opinion already created? Whether or not they have families who have been victims of a crime? What is their feelings toward law and order? Things like that can be relevant,” Vasquez said.
The process is less about selecting the 12 jurors and more about eliminating those who are not fit to serve on the jury, he said.
“There has been a lot of attention in this case. Fort Worth is a big town, but it is also a small town in the sense that everybody knows. That is one of the big issues that have been brought up in this case,” he said.
Due to the gag order on this case, Dean’s attorneys cannot comment on the case.
Dean is represented by Jim Lane, Bob Gill and Miles Brissette.
Prosecutors on the case are a team from Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office led by Dale Smith.
A gag order in place means neither prosecutors nor Dean’s attorneys can publicly comment at this time.
