Jury Selection Begins for Desmonte Leonard Trial
The man accused killing three people in Auburn after he allegedly opened fire at a party will soon stand trial. Jury selection begins today.
The jury pool is said to be large and defense attorneys will try to weed out those they believe may be critical of Desmonte Leonard. As for the prosecution, they are seeking the death penalty against him.
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Here’s a timeline of events;Â
In June of 2012, six people were shot at an off-campus apartment complex in Auburn, where a party was being held. Three of them were killed. Among the dead were two former Auburn football players, Ed Christian and Ladarious Phillips.
“It was a surprise to me,” an Auburn student told us back when the shooting happened. “University Heights has got a good reputation from what I know of. And just something like that happening in the Auburn community, it’s just shocking.”
Then-22-year-old Desmonte Leonard was immediately suspected of the killings. Just hours after, a multi-agency manhunt was launched to find him, with the search focused in Montgomery. Authorities camped out at an East Montgomery house, where Leonard was thought to be hiding. After tear gassing and searching the home, authorities did not find him.
“We are currently in an active manhunt in Montgomery, Alabama with US Marshalls and Montgomery Police Department and Auburn Police Detectives,” said then Auburn Police Chief Tommy Dawson.
Reward money for information leading to Leonard’s arrest soared to 30 thousand dollars. But the manhunt came to an end after three days, when Leonard turned himself over to U.S. Marshals. He was booked on charges of capital murder, attempted murder and assault and has plead not guilty.
Lawyers for Desmonte Leonard want testimony about his mental state to be allowed in his trial. The prosecution are against allowing the testimony.
Desmonte Leonard’s defense attorneys still want a change of venue from where the trial is scheduled to take place in Lee County. They don’t believe he can get a fair trial there.
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