BENTONVILLE — Prosecutors and defense attorneys need to be aware of the “stealth” juror when it comes to selecting a panel, according to a professional jury consultant.
Seventy-five prospective jurors were scheduled to report Tuesday morning for jury selection in Michael Shane Winters’ capital murder trial.
Winters, 30, of Bentonville and Nicholas Johansen, 20, of Garfield are each charged with two counts of capital murder and two counts of aggravated robbery. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for both men.
Each could receive a life sentence or death if convicted of the murders. They could be sentenced from 10 to 40 years or life for each count of aggravated robbery if convicted.
The men are accused of killing Christina Bishop, 40, and Louise Bishop, 81.
Johansen is Christina Bishop’s son and Louise Bishop’s grandson, according to court documents.
Prosecutors elected to try Winters first. Johansen’s trial is set to begin in January.
Dr. Philip Anthony, a jury consultant and the chief executive officer of Decision-Quest in Los Angeles, described a “stealth” juror as a person with his own agendaand reasons for wanting to be a juror. “In a high-profile case it could be money, fame or fortune,” Anthony said.
Anthony said his firm has handled about 18,000 cases in the last 35 years. About 5 percent to 10 percent of those cases were criminal matters.
Anthony said stealth jurors may make up a small percentage of any pool of prospective jurors, but he said it is important those individuals be weeded out.
“Both prosecutors and defense attorneys have to be on the lookout for the stealth juror,” Anthony said.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys have different ideas about the attributes they want jurors to have, Anthony said.
Prosecutors are looking for law-and-order people who see things as black and white and have no issue with returning a death sentence if the evidence is there.
Another person who might look favorably upon a prosecutor’s case is one who is concerned a similar act could happen to them.
“That type of juror will want to do all he or she can to make sure that person is punished,” Anthony said.
Defense attorneys want compassionate and empathetic people who are more likely to listen to all circumstances of a case before reaching a decision, Anthony said. These peopleare creative and fluid in their lives and some could be identified by their occupations, Anthony said.
Laurent Sacharoff, assistant professor of law at the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville, agreed with Anthony that prosecutors favor law-and-order types, while defense attorneys look for people at the other end of the spectrum.
Sacharoff said prosecutors have to be aware and concerned about the CSI television phenomenon, especially in cases lacking physical evidence. “As a result of these television programs, people expect DNA or blood evidence in cases,” Sacharoff said.
Another issue for attorneys is how prospective jurors react to the attorneys.
“As a lawyer you also want jurors that like you,”Sacharoff said.
Circuit Judge Robin Green will conduct preliminary questioning of the panel and then prosecutors and defense attorneys will conduct detailed questioning of groups of three.
Jury selection is expected to take a few days. Winters’ trial is expected to take two to three weeks.
The Bishops were reported missing June 18, 2009. They were last seen at Sam’s Club in Bentonville.
Their bodies were found Feb. 1, 2010, in a shallow grave at 15226 Sugar Creek Road, between Garfield and Avoca, according to court documents.
Winters is represented by Little Rock attorney Robby Golden and Fayetteville attorney Drew Ledbetter.
Johansen and Winters are being held without bond in the Benton County Jail.
News, Pages 6 on 11/02/2011