Word: peoria
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Many veniremen are obviously eager to be among the twelve jurors who will sit in judgment on Richard Speck, 25, the adrift seaman who is accused of murdering eight student nurses in Chicago last July. A middle-aged pastry cook from Peoria, 111., assured a quizzical prosecutor, "I've not discussed the case nor heard anything about it on the radio. I'd be fair, all right." Yet when Speck's court-appointed attorney, Gerald Getty, asked her if she thought she could honestly find Speck innocent, she shook her head and replied, "No, it was taking...
Nevertheless, many people were wondering if the Peoria proceedings were dragging more slowly than was really necessary. In the heavily publicized fraud trial of Influence Peddler Bobby Baker in January, it took only one day to impanel a jury. Federal Judge Oliver Gasch said, "I see no reason why jury selection should be the slowest process in the American system of justice." The process is much swifter in federal courts, because judges-not attorneys-usually question prospective jurors. But even without the built-in difficulties of digging up unprejudiced jurors for Speck, the Peoria selection was destined by Illinois state...
...heading for a star. But Gilbert's beautiful people use them as gimmicks to gain recognition and buy style, even if it is mass-produced. As the parties go on and on, the beautiful people become more pathetic than a middle-aged couple twisting to the jukebox in a Peoria roadside cafe...
...even silly. And after listening to the protests, Judge Paschen eased up on some points. The names of excused jurors could be printed, and a copy of the court record could be obtained each evening during the trial proper. As the selection of the jurors began last week in Peoria, it was also clear that reporters could leave and return during sessions as long as they did not stampede. After five days of effort, not a single juror had been empaneled., while 121 had been dismissed. Many objected to the death penalty, but the most frequent reason for rejection...
...reporting Speck's arrest, though, the Journal-Star used the same source as many other newspapers: the Associated Press. And while Peoria vows to try Speck fairly, Mayor Robert Lehnhausen has a distaste for the job. "As far as I am concerned," says he, "they can take the trial somewhere else. It will not be complimentary to our public image. We have good press coverage in this community, and we are quite aware of the details of this crime." For his part, though, Judge Paschen is betting that Peorians are slightly less irate than Chicagoans, if only because...