Court Update: April 17th

Today, April 17th, marks the second week of court proceedings for the Aston Park/sanctuary camp defendants who are currently facing trial on “felony littering” charges. 

Court began in the afternoon with administrative matters, with both the defense and the prosecution submitting their lists of potential witnesses in the case. The judge presiding then laid out guidelines for media practices, stating that video recording was prohibited throughout the trial. Instead, only still photos and audio recording would be allowed, under the conditions that no jurors would be captured in either, and that audio recording is explicitly prohibited from use on podcasts. 

Afterwards, the jury selection process officially started, with a juror pool of 78 Buncombe County residents entering the court room. Jurors were selected at random and asked to name any essential conflicts would prevent them participating in a trial that may last up to two weeks or more. Twelve available jurors were found and asked by the judge to provide their occupation, residence location, and disclose whether they knew any of the defendants or attorneys involved in the case. 

The selection process then moved to prosecuting attorney, Assistant District Attorney Katie Kurdys, who first asked jurors about their familiarity with any of the 16 original defendants who were arrested last January. From there, questions shifted towards gauging the jurors sentiments towards law enforcement - if they have personal relationships with any officers of the Asheville Police Department, if they have ever called the cops before, and if they had, the nature of their interactions. 

Ultimately, jury selection made minimal progress today, with the state still in the middle of their line of questioning and the defense still awaiting their turn when court broke at 5pm for evening recess. As of yet, neither side has used any of the twelve peremptory challenges available to them. Jury selection continues at 9:30am tomorrow morning, and is anticipated to take all day at the least, potentially continuing into Wednesday. 

Stay tuned for more updates, including when to anticipate the need for courtroom support presence!