Jury being selected in obstruction trial

Authorities expect the trial to reveal what happened to the victim and her fetus.

CANTON (AP) — Lawyers sought Thursday to narrow a pool of 73 possible jurors for the trial of a woman accused of concealing what she knew about the killing of a pregnant woman whose disappearance drew national attention.

Myisha Ferrell, 30, of Canton, is charged with obstructing justice and complicity to gross abuse of a corpse. She has pleaded innocent.

Ferrell’s trial likely will reveal some of what investigators believe happened to Jessie Davis, 26, whose pregnancy was nearly full term when she was reported missing in June. Thousands of volunteers helped search for her until her body was found in a park.

Opening statements in Ferrell’s trial in Stark County Common Pleas Court are expected Monday. She faces up to six years in prison if convicted on both charges.

Bobby Cutts Jr., 30, a Canton police officer accused of killing Davis, faces trial Feb. 4. Cutts, who has been suspended from the department, could receive the death penalty if convicted of aggravated murder.

Ferrell attended high school with Cutts.

Each members of the jury pool for Ferrell’s trial had to fill out a six-page form with 22 questions designed to determine how much each knows about the case, how they learned about it and whether they or anyone they know participated in the search for Davis.

The form also is designed to help determine if jurors have personal knowledge about Davis or her unborn baby.

Investigators believe Davis was killed June 14 in her home near North Canton, about 45 miles south of Cleveland. Her body was found nine days later.

Her mother, Patricia Porter, found Davis’ 2 1/2-year-old son, Blake, alone in Davis’ home. The small boy said then: “Mommy was crying. Mommy broke the table. Mommy’s in rug.”

Davis’ family says Cutts is the father of Blake and of the unborn baby Davis planned to name Chloe and deliver July 3.

Judge Charles E. Brown Jr. denied a motion Friday from Ferrell’s attorney, John Alexander, that sought to prevent the Summit County medical examiner from testifying about how Davis died.

Alexander argued that because Dr. Lisa Kohler could not determine a cause of death, she shouldn’t be allowed to testify about her ruling that Davis died from “unspecified homicidal violence.”