CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A second day of jury selection in the trial of a University of Virginia lacrosse player from Chevy Chase accused of killing his former girlfriend ended Tuesday without a panel of 12 jurors and three alternates being chosen to hear the case.
Judge Edward Hogshire and the attorneys in the case narrowed the group of 160 prospective jurors who received summons to 28 qualified jurors in the trial of George Huguely V. One of those jurors is expected to be dismissed because she has travel plans; the final jury will be selected from the remaining 27.
Opening statements will occur Wednesday after the jury is seated.
Huguely, 24, is accused of brutally beating 22-year-old Yeardley Love, of Cockeysville, to death in May 2010.
Jury selection has been slow-moving in the high-profile case. Over about 20 hours in the past two days, jurors have been questioned about their exposure to media reports and whether they have already formed opinions about the case.
One woman who said she had read news reports said, “I do believe that he hurt Ms. Love, but I’m assuming this case will be about whether those injuries caused her death.” The woman was dismissed.
And one man said he thought he read in an article that Huguely had admitted his guilt.
“I took him at his word,” said the man, who was also dismissed. Court documents say Huguely admitted to shaking Love in her apartment; the defense says he did not know she was dead when he left.
Another man said he overheard co-workers talking about the slaying’s notoriety, saying they commented on the number of news outlets covering the trial and potential jurors receiving summons, as well as parking issues downtown during the trial.
Many Charlottesville residents are alumni of or have worked at UVa, and attorneys questioned them about whether those ties would affect their impartiality.
Love’s bloodied body was found in her bed. The defense haschallenged a medical examiner’s findingthat Love died from blunt force trauma to the head and has called her death an accident.
