If jurors who are chosen for the sentencing hearing for confessed killer Joseph Duncan III live more than 70 miles from the James A. McClure Federal Building and United States Courthouse on Fort Street in Boise, the government will reimburse them as much as $134 a night to stay at a hotel.
If any of those people decide to stay with friends or family in the Boise area instead of going to a hotel, they will be reimbursed up to $49 a night. Each juror, regardless of where they live, will also receive a $40 daily attendance fee during the duration of the hearing.
Each juror will also be paid 50.5 cents a mile for travel to and from the courthouse to where they are staying during the duration of the trial.
A group of 325 potential jurors - some from as far away as Hailey and Twin Falls - filled a room Monday in the Boise Centre on The Grove and got a glimpse of the man whose fate will be decided by a dozen Idahoans.
Federal court officials commandeered the convention center to find 12 people and three alternates who can do a fair job of deciding whether confessed killer Joseph Duncan III should be executed for kidnapping two Coeur d'Alene children and killing one of them - a nine-year-old boy.
Duncan sat unshackled and dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit as U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge read the charges against him.
With shoulder-length hair and a mustache and beard, Duncan appeared at ease with his attorneys. He spoke quietly to them and alternated between looking at the jury pool in front of him and reading court documents from the defense table.
Before his arrival, the potential jurors sat in a large auditorium and spoke quietly. When Duncan arrived, the crowd silenced and stayed that way until Lodge was done addressing them.
The jury prospects from 16 counties in Southwest and Central Idaho filled out a questionnaire that will be used by lawyers on both sides to help whittle down the pool.
While it is not uncommon for residents from other counties to be called to Boise to serve as jurors in federal trials, this pool is the biggest for a federal criminal case in recent memory, court officials say. The group met at The Grove because there is not enough room at the U.S. Courthouse on Fort Street.
This is the first step in a process that ultimately will decide whether Duncan deserves a death sentence after pleading guilty to the kidnapping of Shasta and Dylan Groene, who were taken from their Coeur d'Alene home in May 2005 and sexually abused before Duncan shot and killed Dylan, 9, at a campsite in western Montana.
Eight-year-old Shasta was rescued July 2, 2005, when a waitress spotted Duncan and the girl in a Coeur d'Alene restaurant.
Three of the 10 federal charges Duncan pleaded guilty to in December qualify him for the death penalty.
Lodge thanked the potential jurors "for making the sacrifices that were necessary for you to be here this morning," and he gave them an overview of what to expect for the next several weeks.
Lodge said those who end up on the jury likely would begin hearing testimony in early May and that portion of the hearing would last between 3 to 5 weeks.
The sentencing hearing has two parts. In the first part - the eligibility phase - the jury will have to determine whether there is evidence Duncan planned to kill or cause the Groene children serious bodily injury.
They also need to determine whether at least one aggravating factor - like whether the victims were vulnerable or the crime was premeditated - exists to qualify him for execution.
If they determine Duncan is eligible for execution, a second phase begins, during which the jury will decide whether those crimes are heinous enough to warrant the death penalty.
Federal prosecutors will present more evidence to show the crimes were exceptionally cruel and showed a callous disregard for human life.
Defense attorneys may offer mitigating evidence - facts about Duncan's character, background and mental state - that could convince the jury to decide a more appropriate sentence would be life in prison without parole.
An example of a mitigating factor could be a chaotic or traumatic childhood or mental health issues.
Cameron Burke, the court executive for the U.S. District Court in Idaho, said there were no security problems reported Monday and the off-site event ran smoothly. Duncan was taken in and out of the convention center without incident. Of the 327 jurors called for service, only two did not show up, and one of those jurors called in to report they could not make it, Burke said.
If the federal jury decides against execution, Duncan could still face the death penalty in Kootenai County.
Duncan previously pleaded guilty in state court to killing the children's mother, Brenda Groene; her boyfriend, Mark McKenzie; and 13-year-old Slade Groene at the family home in May 2005.
Patrick Orr: 373-6619
