THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 24, 1996 TAG: 9605240509
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 54 lines
The trial of the first of two U.S. Navy SEAL trainees charged in the murder of a Georgia college student will begin today, but the 12-member jury will not hear several statements the defendant made about women shortly after his arrest.
Circuit Court Judge A. Bonwill Shockley told Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Humphreys on Thursday afternoon that the comments were not relevant to whether Billy Joe Brown killed Jennifer L. Evans on June 19, 1995.
Just before he entered the Henrico County Jail on June 27, 1995, Brown, 23, casually told Virginia Beach police that he would like ``a beer and a babe.''
Hours earlier, Brown had given two statements to Virginia Beach detectives that implicated him in the death of Evans, a 21-year-old pre-med student at Emory University in Atlanta who was vacationing in Virginia Beach when she was killed.
``As far as the specific, direct quote about a beer and a babe, I don't know how that goes to prove the commonwealth's case,'' Shockley said.
Shockley also ruled that two other casual comments made by Brown about women after his arrest would not be admissible.
While being transported to the Henrico County jail, Brown told the Virginia Beach detectives that marriage was bad for men because it allowed women to make them soft. He also said he was not going to marry his girlfriend because, although she was ``Miss Right,'' that actually meant she was ``just Miss Right Now.''
Andrew Sacks, Brown's attorney, said the ruling was ``significant.''
``They had the potential to mislead people,'' Sacks said about the statements after Shockley made her ruling.
``There are many, many men in this world who share this view,'' Sacks argued to the court. ``It's not an enlightened view or a noble view, but it is a view . . . that doesn't prove that he killed Jennifer Evans.''
Sacks and Humphreys will make opening statements today in the trial, which is expected to last at least through next week.
Jury selection lasted three days, ending with a jury of 10 men and four women. Two of the jurors will be alternates, although all 14 will hear the evidence. About 60 prospective jurors were interviewed.
Just before the jury was sworn, Sacks renewed his motion to change venue, which Shockley denied.
Sacks had maintained that publicity about the case made choosing a fair jury in Virginia Beach impossible. But afterward, Sacks said he was satisfied with the jury.
``All things considered, the panel seems as fair and open-minded as you could hope for given the massive publicity this case has received,'' Sacks said.
The other SEAL trainee, 21-year-old Dustin A. Turner, is scheduled for trial starting June 25.
KEYWORDS: MURDER RAPE SEX CRIME
ARREST TRIAL by CNB