Final pre trial held in Seman case

February 2, 2017 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Less than half of the potential pool of jurors will report Friday to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for the Robert Seman capital murder case.

After another round of juror excuses was approved Wednesday by Judge Maureen Sweeney, 159 jurors are expected to report out of a pool of 400.

Seman, 48, of Green, is going on trial for the March 2015 arson on Powers Way that killed Corinne Gump, 10, and her grandparents, William and Judith Schmidt, just hours before Seman was to go on trial on charges he raped Gump. The rape charges carry a life sentence if he is convicted.

Seman was free on $200,000 bond at the time of the fire and is charged with aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated arson and other crimes.

Earlier this month, Judge Sweeney excused about 180 jurors for various reasons after prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed they could be excluded. Reasons ranged from financial hardship to not being able to obtain care for a child or family member, or their employer would not let them miss work.

Wednesday, 48 jurors were excused and there are others who are not expected to show up Friday because they could not be served with their notices for jury duty.

Jury selection was slated to begin in September but was halted after a juror during orientation made remarks to other potential jurors that could have swayed their opinions. To help combat this Friday, Judge Sweeney has ordered that jurors be broken up into smaller groups and each group watched by a deputy, who can then report any inappropriate comments to her right away.

The judge Wednesday also barred all cellphones and electronic devices from the courtroom, including those belonging to other attorneys and the media.

If Seman is convicted, a second phase, or mitigation phase of the trial, will then take place. There, defense attorneys will offer evidence to jurors as to why they should spare Seman’s life.