Jury Pool Whittled In 'Underwear Bomber' Case
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A judge and lawyers settled Tuesday on 80 people for next week's first round of jury selection in the trial of a man charged with trying to blow up an international flight near Detroit on behalf of al-Qaida.
More than 200 people filled out a questionnaire this month and dozens were eliminated for work, vacation, school and health reasons. There was even a pending kidney donation. Others were excused for having strong feelings about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 24-year-old Nigerian accused of wearing a bomb inside his underwear on Christmas 2009.
A woman wrote that she feared "crazy relatives of the defendant waiting in the shadows," U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds said. "I think we'll excuse her."
One person wrote that the trial, "is a waste is taxpayer money,"because the person said Abdulmutallab has no rights here.
Another potential juror wrote, "I'm a proud American and cannot be impartial because my family could have been on that flight."
At times, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Martin urged the judge not to dismiss prospective jurors based on the questionnaire without a face-to-face interview. Edmunds, however, said the pool was large enough to make cuts and move on.
"We've got lots of other people who don't say, `He is guilty,"' the judge said.
Jury selection starts Oct. 4, followed by opening statements a week later.
Abdulmutallab is charged with trying to destroy Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam. He is acting as his own lawyer but didn't speak as the jury pool was whittled, relying instead on court-appointed attorney Anthony Chambers, who is assisting him.
Edmunds also planned to settle some disputes about trial evidence Tuesday, including the government's request to show video demonstrations of an explosive containing the same chemicals as the ones possessed by Abdulmutallab.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
