LITTLE ROCK, AR - The Little Rock Police officer
charged with manslaughter, Josh Hastings, was in court Thursday for day four in
his case against the state, who's accusing him in the wrongful death of a teenage
robbery suspect.
The case isn't as far along in the process as some inside
the courtroom thought it would have been.
"The court felt like we were getting too low on
potential jurors, and we would bring this other group in," explained
defense attorney Bill James. "We hoped it wasn't going to happen, but the
judge decided that needs to be done, so that's what's happening."
Court started Thursday with six seated jurors, meaning
halfway to finalizing the jury box and officially swearing them in. That quickly
changed however, when one was sent home for personal reasons.
Those inside the courtroom expected that they would begin to
bring in witnesses Friday morning, but that changed about lunch time Thursday
when the judge sent everyone in the current jury pool, including the seated
jurors, home for the day and brought in 60 new faces to start the process all
over with them from the beginning.
The court wanted a bigger pool of prospective jurors to pull
from to fill the seven remaining seats plus the two alternates.
They are closer to seating the jury, but this has all been
done once before and resulted in a hung jury.
"This is a process that requires we be attentive and
diligent," Judge Wendell Griffen said.
The previously seated jurors will return Friday afternoon.
It's possible opening testimony will begin Monday. Judge
Griffen still expects the proceedings to be finished by October 4.