Jury selection begins for Aaron Dean murder trial
FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Jury selection started Monday afternoon in Fort Worth for the murder trial of Aaron Dean, a former police officer who shot and killed Atatiana Jefferson in her home in 2019.
200 potential jurors gathered in the central jury room at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in downtown Fort Worth. Judge George Gallagher acknowledged in his introduction that the size of the group was unusual, but was due to the amount of media coverage on the case.
When the judge opened with a question, asking who had read, heard or seen something about the shooting of an African American woman in her home, by a Fort Worth police officer, it appeared as many as half of the potential jurors acknowledged that they had.
The group spent Monday afternoon filling out a 25-page questionnaire, asking their opinions on law enforcement, use of force, crime in their neighborhoods and feelings toward certain racial or ethnic groups.
Attorneys were expected to read those answers Tuesday, before questioning potential jurors in more detail Wednesday and Thursday. Gallagher said he hoped to have 14 people chosen by Thursday or Friday.
Gallagher briefly mentioned the death of one of the lawyers involved in the case, Jim Lane, who died Sunday. Although Lane's health had previously been considered for delays in the trial this year, Gallagher said the death would not delay proceedings outside of possible downtime so people could attend a funeral.
At a brief hearing before jury selection, Dean was formally arraigned, something Gallagher said he realized had never been done after his arrest in late 2019. Dean formally entered a not guilty plea.