Murder trial will begin after jury selected
Attorneys for the State of Nebraska and defendant Kevin German, 26, began the questioning of potential jurors Monday for German’s trial set to begin later this week.
Monday’s jury pool started with 61 individuals. District Judge Patrick Heng excused 34 from the pool at the request of the attorneys.
The remaining 27 were instructed to return to the courthouse at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Tuesday’s jury pool began with 51 individuals. At the end of questioning Tuesday, 32 remained in the pool. They were also to report back to the courthouse at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.
District Court Clerk Debbie Clark said that of the 125 potential jurors called, 11 had been excused prior to Monday and Tuesday’s questioning, which is known in legal terms as voir dire.
Questioning continued Wednesday with the selection of the jurors expected sometime during the day. Depending on when that occurred, the trial could begin later Wednesday or Thursday morning.
Change of venue denied
German’s defense team filed a motion July 12 seeking a change of venue for the case. The motion cited they didn’t believe a fair and impartial trial could be held in Chase County.
Following a July 15 hearing, Heng overruled the motion for a change of venue, adding that jury selection would begin as scheduled Monday.
Heng said German and his defense team may resubmit the change of venue motion during the jury selection process if they determine it is necessary.
Murder, kidnapping charges
German, an Imperial native, is charged with three Class 1A felonies—1st degree murder and two kidnapping charges.
The charges stem from the November 2019 death of Annika Swanson, 22, of Imperial.
German pled not guilty to all three charges and has been jailed in the Lincoln County Jail without bond.
A second individual is also charged in connection with the death of Swanson.
Keonna Carter, 24, of Taylorsville, Utah, is also charged with 1st degree murder and one count of kidnapping. A second count of kidnapping was dismissed.
She also remains in jail in Lincoln County. She has been subpoenaed to testify as a witness on behalf of the State of Nebraska.
Jury questioning
On both Monday and Tuesday, Doug Warner with the Nebraska Attorney General’s office was the first to question potential jurors.
Warner and Mike Guinen, also with the Attorney General’s office, are serving as special deputy county attorneys for Chase County.
Warner quizzed potential jurors on a variety of issues, such as conflicts of interest, direct knowledge of the case or conversations about the case with potential witnesses.
He emphasized he was seeking jurors who can be impartial and fair and believed the defendant was innocent until proven guilty without any reasonable doubt.
German’s attorney, Clarence Mock of Omaha, covered a wide variety of topics during his questioning.
He went through a list of names of people involved in the case, asking if potential jurors knew them or had direct relationships with any of them.
He also quizzed the pool on possible elements of the defense that would be raised during the trial.
Mock also broached a subject that he noted is difficult to discuss but had to be addressed.
While he said much progress has been made with race relations in this country, some still have trouble dealing with African Americans.
He asked the jury pool if there was anyone who could not be fair and impartial in determining whether German, who is African American, was innocent or guilty.
“I just need to know” if anyone feels that way, he said.
There were no African Americans among the jury pool.
Lengthy trial expected
The district court has set aside up to 11 days on the calendar for the trial. If all 11 days are used, that will push the trial out to Aug. 3.
Originally the trial was scheduled for two weeks. Heng then added three additional days in August after concerns were expressed that two weeks may not be enough.