Prospective jurors' behavior has tainted jury pool, Seman lawyers tell judge
YOUNGSTOWN
Attorneys in the capital murder case against Robert Seman have filed a motion in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court asking for a mistrial.
The motion was filed Thursday before Judge Maureen A. Sweeney. Because it is under seal, specific details are not available. The motion also asks the judge to disqualify the jury and discharge the jury pool in the case and also for a change of venue.
Jury selection started in the case Tuesday after more than 150 jurors showed up Sept. 9 for jury orientation. It has been delayed this week because Judge Sweeney is attending a previously scheduled judicial conference.
Judge Sweeney did overrule a defense request Monday for a change of venue due to intense pretrial publicity.
The motion was filed by defense attorneys Lynn Maro and Tom Zena several months ago. It was augmented over the weekend, however, with supplemental briefs from the jury orientation, where the defense attorneys said some potential jurors glared at Seman, some cried and a corrections officer at the jail where Seman is being held showed up in uniform and told jurors he supervised Seman at the jail.
All those incidents, the defense attorneys contended, would poison the remaining jurors against their client.
Read more about the case in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.