RICHMOND, Va (WVIR) - Monday marked the first day of the federal corruption trial of former Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen. A jury of eight men and four women was selected to hear the case against Bob and Maureen McDonnell, charged in a 14-count indictment with accepting more than $165,000 in gifts and loans from the CEO of a dietary supplements company in exchange for helping promote his products. Monday focused mostly on jury selection. The prospective jurors - 150 total - were lead into a courtroom and asked questions. Judge James Spencer worked from a long list of questions, some about personal knowledge of finance and real estate and others about experience with law enforcement. If you are the prosecution you want someone with a pro-prosecution or pro-law enforcement bent and if you are someone from the defense bar you want someone who may bring life experiences but who understand that some folks might make mistakes and some folks might make decisions that they regret but ultimately are not felonious and dont need to be treated as such,” said Charles James, Jr., a former federal prosecutor. Monday, The prosecution also filed a list of 61 potential witnesses that include the McDonnells three children Sean, Rachel, and Bobby. The witness list and the governments list of exhibits were filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond before the opening of the trial. With jury selection complete, the next step is opening statements. The trial is expected to last at least five weeks. The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 14:06:15 +0000
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