Jury selection is complete in Van Dyke trial, but still much to be decided
The jury selection in the Jason Van Dyke murder trial of LaQuan McDonald is complete. However, there are still things that need to be decided before opening arguments begin, including whether the trial will be in Chicago or not.
Friday morning in the Leighton Criminal Court building, the judge will consider a change of venue request by Van Dyke’s defense.
The defense team claims that there is too much bias in this case for it be held locally. They do not think they can get a fair trial because of intense media coverage.
If the trial is moved outside of Cook County, it could also mean a new jury selection process.
Van Dyke’s defense could opt to have a jury with no local ties. As it stands now, 12 jurors have been selected with five alternates.
Only 11 of the 12 have been sworn in for the trial and that means there is a chance this jury may not be used at all. The defense has until the 12th juror is sworn in to decide whether this case is a jury trial or bench trial.
Whether or not the case will be decided via jury or judge, opening statements are expected to begin Monday.
