St. Louis, MO (KTRS) Efforts continue to seat a jury in the felony invasion of privacy case of Governor Eric Greitens.
The trial was expected to begin on Monday, but jury selection is taking longer than anticipated. Instead, day three of jury selection was held. defense attorney Jim Martin said in court that prosecutors claimed they had stopped looking for the photo. Judge Rex Burlison asked Ronald Sullivan, a Harvard law professor hired by the prosecution if he had a response. Sullivan said he did not.
During questioning, Defense Attorney Scott Rosenblum told a potential juror that he received a call from her employer who informed him that the woman said if she gets selected the Governor would “fry.” The woman denied making the comment and said she was shocked. Following questioning, Burlison called attorneys for a sidebar.
That was followed by the judge ruling to allow the woman to stay in the jury pool. The judge reminded the woman she was not allowed to discuss the case with anyone.
Meanwhile, the trial continues to draw demonstrators. Pamela Merritt, of the abortion rights group, REPRO-Action was among those who came out in support of the woman at the center of the case.
“She is a St. Louisian. She is one of us.” Merritt said.
“She is going to have people send her threatening things and dig up all kinds of things about her. Her children have already been harassed.” Merritt added.
Supporters for the Governor also turned out, such as Gary Leggans.
“We believe in what he’s doing. He’s draining the Missouri swamp. He’s attempting to and I believe that’s what’s going on against him. People are politically against him for what he’s doiing.”
Greitens is accused of taking and transmitting an unauthorized photo of a partially nude woman with whom he had an affair before he was elected.
Jury selection is expected to continue into Tuesday. The trial could begin on Wednesday.