Jury selection not an easy feat

By By Melissa Cason
A Franklin County jury found a Red Bay man guilty of killing his infant son this week.
I watched a large portion of jury selections Monday, and I realized that finding a jury without any prejudice is difficult at best, especially when the case has been highly publicized by the media, including this newspaper. Almost everyone in the jury pool had heard of the case, and many of them found out the same day selection began.
As I listened, I began to understand the difficulty our justice system faces everyday. Law enforcement officers work tirelessly to arrest criminals ,and reporters work tirelessly trying to inform the public of what is going on around them. It is inevitable that the two jobs work against each other on occasion.
Over the past 11 months, I have developed a strong working relationship with many of the county's law enforcement officials, but this week I realized that while I am trying to inform our public, I am also making it difficult for my friends to deliver justice.
During the murder trial, I tried to think of a way for law enforcement and journalists to co-exist without the risk of exposing potential jurors with too much information.
As I thought about this, I realized that our peaceful co-existence is not possible. It's law enforcement's job to place criminals behind bars, and it's my job to tell you about it because you have a right to know what is going in your community, even if it means possibly contaminating a jury pool.
The only solution to this information problem is to select jurors who can put aside what they have read or heard, and make a decision based on testimony, which is what I believed happened in this case.
Just remember that if this case has taught me nothing else, it's taught me that when my friends tell me they can't tell me something, it probably should be left unsaid altogether.