THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 10, 1996 TAG: 9602100294
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: DEDHAM, MASS. LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
A jury was seated Friday for the trial of John C. Salvi III, accused of murder in the shooting deaths of two abortion clinic receptionists.
Nine women and seven men were chosen from a pool of more than 150 candidates, which had been narrowed to 52 by Friday morning. Four are to be named alternates.
The group is to meet Tuesday morning to tour the two Brookline abortion clinics where the shootings occurred Dec. 30, 1994. Opening arguments were scheduled for Wednesday.
Salvi is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and five counts of armed assault with intent to murder.
If found not guilty by reason of insanity, Salvi would be sent to a state mental hospital, from which he would be released once the courts find he is no longer a danger to society. Conviction would mean life in prison without parole.
He told Judge Barbara Dortch-Okara he did not want to go on Tuesday's trip to the clinics.
Salvi, who has disrupted previous court appearances by knocking over furniture, shouting and trying to pass letters to reporters, displayed little emotion Friday. Bailiffs had to tackle him and carry him out on Wednesday.
Salvi's attorneys contend the killings arose from delusional thinking by Salvi that they blame on a mental illness, paranoid schizophrenia. But prosecutors have said Salvi was a killer who planned his violence and then took rational steps to avoid capture.
Salvi's lawyers asked Friday to bar a psychologist's jailhouse interviews with Salvi because no lawyer was present. The psychologist met with Salvi in September and again in December, after Salvi apparently tried to hang himself.
The judge took the motion under advisement.
The judge, at the request of First Assistant Norfolk District Attorney John Kivlan, also issued a gag order Friday on attorneys in the case.
Dortch-Okara had resisted Kivlan's request for months, but said Friday she concluded that an order is necessary. She did not cite specific examples of recent behavior by the attorneys she felt warranted her finally taking the action. The gag order includes Kivlan's boss, Norfolk District Attorney William D. Delahunt.
Kivlan routinely declines to speak to the press while the Salvi defense team of J.W. Carney Jr. and Janice Bassil had readily made themselves available to discuss the day's events during jury selection and during pre-trial motions over the past 14 months. MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by The Associated Press and The
Boston Globe.
by CNB