HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Nine people have been dismissed from potential jury service at the trial of an Arkansas judge charged with negligent homicide after his 18-month-old son died after being left in a hot car last summer.
A number of people in the jury pool have said they either know Garland County Circuit Judge Wade Naramore or some of the witnesses who could be called. Others said they aren’t sure they could be impartial, and at least one was dismissed for a medical condition.
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Naramore faces up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine in the death of his son, Thomas, in July 2015. His lawyer has said the boy’s death was “a tragedy but not a crime.”
Because of pretrial publicity, clerks summoned a larger number of potential jurors than usual Monday, and up to 180 potential jurors could be called before Special Judge John Langston.
Some told state and defense lawyers that Naramore hadn’t been treated fairly in the media; others said they believed the judge was guilty.
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Naramore stopped hearing cases after his courtroom after son’s death, with special judges stepping in to hear cases. Local court officials stepped aside from the case, requiring that a special prosecutor another special judge come in.
Naramore’s lawyers on Monday asked that jurors not be shown autopsy photos, saying they weren’t pertinent to the case. The toddler was found unresponsive July 24, 2015, when temperatures reached the upper 90s and the heat index approached 105.
The trial is expected to last a week.
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