Jury Selection Continues In Kepler's 4th Murder Trial

Jury selection continued Tuesday afternoon for the trial of Shannon Kepler, the former police officer charged with killing his daughter's boyfriend.

The defense team for Shannon Kepler spent the afternoon questioning the 36 potential jurors. They and prosecutors have 9 chances each to eliminate jurors they don't want to hear the case.

"I think what's most important about finding people who agree with you is finding the people who don't; it's all about fairness,” said defense attorney Jeff Krigel.

Krigel says juror questioning is critical.

"It's interesting; people will not tell you immediately what's on their mind and you have to dig for it,” he stated.

For the first three Kepler trials, the jurors couldn't agree on the main verdict, even after hearing two weeks of testimony and spending hours in deliberations.

"It's a conversation, and the most important thing a juror can do is stay interested,” said Krigel. “It's so easy to just sit back and sleep with your eyes open, and that just can't happen because someone's life is at stake, whether that's the defendant or the victim."

Many jurors told the court they knew something about the case, but only a couple said they had an opinion on Kepler's guilt or innocence.

Krigel said now attorneys have find those open-ended questions that will reveal a juror's thoughts.

Related Story: Jury Selection Continues In 4th Murder Trial Of Former Tulsa Police Officer

“One of my favorite questions is whether you vote and who would think that matters?” he said. “It deals with civic pride and how you allocate your time calendaring and how prepared you are. And it shows a different caliber of person, and it shows how involved in different processes that person wants to be.”           

Jury questioning will continue Wednesday morning and the testimony is expected to start in the afternoon.