THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 28, 1996 TAG: 9608280418
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 30 lines
A panel of 24 jurors has been chosen in the first-degree murder trial of former Navy SEAL trainee Dustin A. Turner, 21.
A jury of 12, plus two alternates, will be chosen from that group today.
Fifteen prospective jurors were chosen Monday and nine more Tuesday to complete the jury pool.
Turner is accused of killing Jennifer L. Evans, 21, on June 19, 1995. Opening statements in the trial will begin as soon as the jury is seated. That could happen today.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys said testimony and the presentation of evidence in the trial should take about five days.
Turner's co-defendant, Billy Joe Brown, 24, was convicted in June of first-degree, abduction and attempted rape. He was sentenced to 72 years in prison and fined $63,000.
Concerns about difficulty in choosing a jury in the case, which has received intense media scrutiny, did not materialize. Circuit Judge John K. Moore had said he would order the trial moved out of Hampton Roads if a jury could not be chosen in four days. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Dustin A. Turner, 21, is accused of killing Jennifer L. Evans, 21,
on June 19, 1995. by CNB