Jury Selection Starts In Lunsford Case

Jury selection began Monday in the trial for a convicted sex offender who faces the death penalty for the much publicized 2005 slaying of a girl in Florida.

Circuit Judge Richard Howard denied a defense request to further delay the trial of John Evander Couey, 48, saying, "The fact of the matter is, this case is going forward." A few minutes later, he began questioning prospective jurors about their knowledge of the case.

Publicity had forced the trial to be moved from Citrus County, Florida, where the crime occurred, to Miami.

Jessica Lunford's death had led to tougher sex offender laws in Florida and at least 18 other U.S. states and prompted creation of the first-ever coordinated U.S. Justice Department effort to track down noncompliant offenders nationwide, such as those who fail to register or are not living where they are supposed to.

Choosing a jury was expected to consume much of the week, with the final panel sequestered. News organizations are barred from showing the faces of jurors or reporting their names.

"The impacts of Jessica Lunsford's story have been huge," said Ernie Allen, president and chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va. "In our view, enormous good has come and thousands of children's lives are going to be saved because Jessica Lunsford lived."

In that way, Jessica has joined a tragic list of other children — Adam Walsh, Jimmy Ryce, Amber Hagerman, Megan Kanka and others — whose names are synonymous with important reforms in the criminal justice system.

"We look forward to the day when it doesn't take a tragedy involving a child to motivate people to action," Allen said.

Jessica, a vivacious and happy third-grader, was abducted one night from her bedroom in the small town of Homasassa, Florida.

Her body was found three weeks later, on March 19, 2005, buried in garbage bags behind a mobile home a short distance from her own house. She had her favorite stuffed dolphin and her hands were bound by speaker wire, but authorities say it appeared she had tried to poke her fingers through the bags. She died of asphyxiation.

Couey, who was arrested for previous sex crimes involving children in 1978 and 1991, was living with his half-sister at the trailer near the Lunsford home. But authorities searching for Jessica did not know that, because he had moved there without telling them as required under sex offender registration laws.

As the search intensified, Couey traveled to Georgia, where he was arrested on an unrelated Florida warrant. He confessed to Jessica's abduction and murder to two Citrus County sheriff's detectives who traveled there to interview him, but that taped confession was thrown out by a judge because Couey was not allowed to consult a lawyer as he requested.

"She was still alive. I buried her alive. Like its stupid, but she,
so she suffered," Couey said on tape, CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann reported.

That means the jury will not hear what is perhaps the strongest evidence against Couey. But the jury will be told that Couey described where to find Jessica's body and that he told jail guards and others about his alleged role in the crime. Prosecutors have DNA and other evidence placing Jessica in the Couey mobile home before she died.

Couey's attorney, public defender Dan Lewan, has repeatedly declined to discuss the case.