Pubdate: Tue, 29 Jul 2008
Source: Blade, The (Toledo, OH)
Copyright: 2008 The Blade
Contact:  http://www.toledoblade.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/48
Author: Jennifer Feehan, Blade Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Tarika+Wilson (Tarika Wilson)

JURY CHOSEN FOR OFFICER IN LIMA SHOOTING

Panel of 8 Whites to Weigh Case With Racial Overtones

LIMA, Ohio -- After a full day of questioning, a jury of four white
men and four white women was seated yesterday to decide the fate of a
Lima police sergeant charged with shooting a biracial woman and her
young son during a drug raid.

Joseph Chavalia, 52, is charged with negligent homicide stemming from
the Jan. 4 death of Tarika Wilson, 26, and negligent assault for the
wounding of 1-year-old Sincere Wilson. Both charges are
misdemeanors.

Attorneys representing Sergeant Chavalia had asked that the 30-year
police veteran's trial be moved out of town due to extensive media
coverage the case attracted -- and the community reaction that
followed. Wilson was biracial; Sergeant Chavalia is white.

In the aftermath of the shooting, some blacks and whites complained
they did not trust Lima police, and some accused police of unfairly
targeting African-Americans. Blacks make up 26.4 percent of the city's
population of 40,081 people.

Visiting Judge Richard Knepper, a former Lucas County Common Pleas
judge who retired from the Ohio's 6th District Court of Appeals, ruled
that an attempt first had to be made to seat a jury in Allen County
Common Pleas Court. By 4:30 p.m. that had been accomplished.

It took 40 minutes more to select two alternate jurors -- two women:
one black and one white.

Special Prosecutor Jeff Strausbaugh, whose questions to prospective
jurors focused largely on their perceptions of police, declined to
comment afterward on the make-up of the jury.

Defense attorney Bill Kluge said he was "highly satisfied" with the
panel. He said he had expected it to take two to three days to seat a
jury "but Judge Knepper just kept us moving right along."

Judge Knepper, Mr. Strausbaugh, and Mr. Kluge all asked prospective
jurors whether they had heard much about the case -- all of them had
- -- and whether they'd formed opinions about it -- most had.
Repeatedly, the men and women were asked if they could set aside what
they'd heard or thought about the case, listen to the evidence and
testimony presented at trial, and render an impartial verdict.

One man who was friends with a Lima police officer who took part in
the raid at Wilson's Third Street home conceded that he could not. He
was excused.

One woman said that she had formed opinions about the case and
expressed those opinions to friends "but I always qualified it with,
'but I don't know all the facts.'" She was chosen for the jury.

Mr. Strausbaugh asked whether jurors thought police officers should be
held accountable if they violated the law, whether they knew anyone
who had been killed or injured by a firearm, and whether they could
set aside personal opinions about the fact that the victim in the case
lived with a man wanted by police.

Mr. Kluge asked whether potential jurors could acquit an officer if an
expert on police raids testified that Sergeant Chavalia had done
everything correctly. He asked them how they would act if police came
to their house with a search warrant and ordered them to get on the
floor.

Mr. Kluge asked one juror what she would think if Sergeant Chavalia
did not take the witness stand in his defense, and then told her that
the defendant would in fact be taking the stand.

Five blacks were among the 50 or so prospective jurors who reported
for jury duty. All were selected from the list of registered voters in
the county.

During the selection process, two black women were questioned directly
for a spot on the jury -- one was excused because Mr. Kluge was
representing a family member of hers in an active criminal case, while
the other was dismissed by Mr. Kluge after she talked about a prior
negative experience she had with Lima police.

Mr. Kluge said afterward that asking the court to dismiss the woman as
a juror was "not a racial thing. It had more to do with her attitude
about the Lima police department."

He told the jury pool that he knew that when people in the community
talk about the case they bring up racial attitudes in Lima.

"This trial is not a racial issue. This trial should not be a racial
issue," Mr. Kluge said. "We know Tarika Wilson is black. We know Joe
Chavalia is white. We don't want you to look at the case like that."

Fifth Ward City Councilman Tommy Pitts, who has been outspoken about
the Wilson shooting, showed up to sit in on jury selection but was not
permitted in the courtroom because of a lack of space.

"Their not picking an African-American to be a part of the eight does
not surprise me at all because we're dealing with Lima-Allen County,"
Mr. Pitts said afterward.

The victim's mother, Darla Jennings, who was waiting outside the
courtroom, declined to comment on the trial but said she planned to be
there every day. Opening statements are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
today. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake