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New jury pool to be called in Brothers case

This story originally appeared February 7, 2007

By JESSICA LOGAN, Californian staff writer
e-mail: jlogan@bakersfield.com | Friday, Feb 16 2007 12:50 PM

Last Updated: Friday, Feb 16 2007 12:50 PM

A judge said Tuesday he won't have enough jurors to pick from for the upcoming Vincent Brothers trial and he will have to start calling new jurors next week.

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After questioning almost 200 jurors, Kern County Superior Court Judge Michael Bush could only find about 65 jurors who could be fair in Brothers' trial.

He still has about 10 left to question today, but even if every one were qualified to sit on a death penalty case, Bush still wouldn't have the 70 to 90 jurors he wants to move on to the final round of jury selection. He fears some of the jurors he has already selected will not be able to serve.

Bush and the attorneys have some big hurdles to finding jurors.

First, many people can't afford to miss work for three months, which is how long the trial is expected to take.

Second, many people said they could not consider both life in prison without the possibility of parole and the death penalty if Brothers is convicted of killing his wife, three children and mother-in-law. Brothers has pleaded not guilty.

Some said they would never sentence someone to death and some said they would always choose death in a case this serious.

Before jury selection began, the defense worried that intense media scrutiny prejudiced people against Brothers.

But only a small fraction of people said they believed Brothers may be guilty based on what they were exposed to in the media.

Bush has given defense attorneys Michael Gardina and Anthony Bryan and prosecutor Lisa Green a lot of time to question jurors about their views on the death penalty, hoping to get a fair group.

Brothers, a former vice principal, is accused of killing his wife, Joanie Harper; their three children, Marques, Lyndsey and Marshall; and Joanie Harper's mother, Earnestine.

His family was found dead on July 8, 2003, and he was arrested in April 2004 on suspicion of committing the murders.

Jury selection will continue today.