TS Inquest testimony begins today - 11 jurors sworn in for rare court proceeding 09/12/2006
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EUREKA The jury has been sworn in and testimony is scheduled to begin today in the coroner's inquest into the police shooting death of Cheri Lyn Moore.
Eleven jurors six men and five women were selected Monday from a pool of 50. Several potential jurors were excused for hardship or their relationship to the case. One was discharged because her husband is a witness. Another was let go because she works for county mental heath.
Coroner Frank Jager and hearing officer Robert Hickok explained the basics of the proceeding, which differs from a typical criminal trial in most respects. Only Hickok will ask witnesses questions. There is no defense and prosecution or cross examination and redirect. Jurors will be allowed to submit 3-by-5 cards to Hickok with inquiries, clarifications or additional questions for different witnesses. He said he will use them if they are pertinent and unlikely to be answered by later testimony.
About 40 witnesses are expected to take the stand over three to four days, including police officers, Moore's neighbors, the police chief and investigators.
Moore, 48, was killed when police stormed her apartment after a two-hour-plus standoff during which she brandished a flare gun and threw various objects out of her second-story, downtown apartment. “You are not here to determine the guilt or innocence of anybody,” Jager told the jurors. “The one purpose of the coroner's inquest in today's day and age is to inform the public from the people who were involved about what happened.”
The jurors will be asked to determine whether Moore's death was accidental, suicide, by natural causes or by anothers' hands other than accidental. They may also give recommendations about changes they think the police or mental health should pursue.
They will not need to reach a unanimous decision, but one agreed on by a majority of the 11.
The first witness is expected to take the stand at 9 a.m.
Kim Wear / The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 09/12/2006 07:29:00 AM PDT
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