TRUMBULL COUNTY Capital murder jury is still being seated

Attorneys are hoping testimony in the capital murder case will begin this week.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- It's taking an unusually long time to select a jury in a capital murder case, and attorneys for both sides still aren't sure when the panel will be seated.
Attorneys began interviewing potential jurors April 8 for Donna Roberts' capital murder case. After nearly four weeks, attorneys say they are getting close.
"It has taken a very long time," said Chris Becker, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor. "I think part of the reason is because we are interviewing all the jurors individually rather than as a group."
During the process, attorneys and the judge have met with each potential juror and quizzed them on their knowledge of the case and their views on the death penalty.
Charges
Roberts faces charges of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary. If convicted, she could face the death penalty.
"I don't think it took long because of the individual interviewing," said Atty. J. Gerald Ingram, one of the attorneys representing Roberts. "We had to excuse a number of jurors. We interviewed about 50 people."
Of the 50 interviewed, about 25 have been excused.
Several were excused because they had already formed views on the case, and others were not chosen because of their feelings on the death penalty.
"We had some people that had very extreme views on the death penalty," Ingram said. "Some felt they could never impose it for any reason and others felt the opposite."
Attorneys say they want to get a pool of 34 potential jurors from which to choose 12 jurors and four alternates.
Once the jury is seated, testimony will begin.
When it should start
Both sides believe testimony should start the end of this week.
Jury selection generally takes no longer than two or three weeks and, in some cases, even less time.
Roberts, 57, and her lover, Nathaniel Jackson, were charged with killing Roberts' former husband, Robert Fingerhut, Dec. 11, 2001, in the Fonderlac Drive S.E. home Roberts and Fingerhut shared.
Letters
Prosecutors say Roberts and Jackson wrote hundreds of letters to each other, some discussing their plans to kill Fingerhut when Jackson was released from prison.
The letters were found in the Fonderlac home and in the trunk of Roberts' car.
Jackson was released from prison Dec. 9, 2001, after serving one year on a Mahoning County conviction for receiving stolen property.
He was convicted of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary in the Fingerhut case and has been sentenced to death. He is appealing.
sinkovich@vindy.com