Jury seated in killing of ‘Sniper’ author

Associated Press

STEPHENVILLE, Texas

A jury was seated Monday in the trial of a man charged with killing the former Navy SEAL depicted in the Oscar-nominated movie “American Sniper,” with the judge estimating no more than two dozen people were dismissed from service because of publicity about the case.

Ten women and two men will serve as jurors for Eddie Ray Routh’s trial, which starts Wednesday with opening statements. Routh, a former Marine, is charged with capital murder in the deaths of 38-year-old Chris Kyle and Kyle’s friend, 35-year-old Chad Littlefield. Kyle and Littlefield were trying to help Routh when prosecutors say he shot them at a Texas gun range in 2013.

The movie based on Kyle’s memoir as a celebrated sniper who served four tours in Iraq has grossed nearly $300 million. In response to the attention paid to the Kyle case, officials called in more than four times as many potential jurors as they would for a regular trial. Yet it took just one day to seat the panel, after a screening process last week narrowed the jury pool.

Simply reading Kyle’s book or seeing the movie — which ends with a depiction of Kyle meeting Routh, followed by footage from Kyle’s funeral — weren’t grounds for dismissal. Instead, potential jurors were asked if they could set aside what they already had heard.

Judge Jason Cashon denied defense motions to delay the trial or move it to a different county and noted how few potential jurors were dismissed because of pretrial publicity.

Routh’s attorneys plan to pursue an insanity defense. Prosecutors won’t seek the death penalty. He faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

Family members have said Routh, 27, struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder after leaving the Marines in 2010. The small-arms technician served in Iraq and was deployed to earthquake-ravaged Haiti. Kyle took Routh to the shooting range after Routh’s mother asked if he could help her son.