No Jurors Yet in Carruth Murder Trial
C H A R L O T T E, N.C., Oct. 24, 2000 -- No jurors were selected in the second dayof the first-degree murder trial of ex-NFL player Rae Carruth,charged with masterminding a plot to kill his pregnant girlfriend.
No jurors were selected in the first day either.
By mid-afternoon Tuesday, nearly 20 potential jurors wereexcused by Superior Court Judge Charles Lamm. Most of themexpressed their opposition to the death penalty.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Carruth could be sentencedto death.
The slow pace of the jury selection process comes as nosurprise. Attorneys on both sides have predicted it would take atleast two weeks to seat a jury for the high-profile murder trial.
Court TV Access an Issue
Much of Monday morning was taken up with defense motions, includingone that Carruth’s co-defendants be moved to another jail so theycould not watch the proceedings on Court TV.
Prosecutors added the names of co-defendants Michael Eugene Kennedy and Stanley Drew “Boss” Abraham as possible witnesses.
Their main witness is expected to be Carruth’s thirdco-defendant, Van Brett Watkins, whose name was already on thewitness list. Watkins, the admitted triggerman, pleaded guilty tosecond-degree murder and agreed to testify against Carruth.
Defense attorneys David Rudolf and Chris Fialko asked that allthree co-defendants be moved to another county jail where theywould not have access to Court TV, which will televise the trial.
Superior Court Judge Charles Lamm denied the motion but asked asheriff’s deputy to determine if the three can be denied access toCourt TV. Witnesses are often barred from attending trials beforetaking the stand in order to make sure other people’s testimonydoesn’t influence them.
Lamm also denied two other defense motions: one to have thecourt reporter list the race of potential jurors and one not torequire the jurors to say they could hand down a death sentence ifappropriate. The defense said Carruth should face no more than alife sentence since that’s the worst Watkins faces.
Details of the Case
Carruth, 26, once a wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers, ischarged with first-degree murder in the death of Cherica Adams, 24.She was seven months pregnant with his child when she was gunneddown Nov. 16 as she sat in her car. She died a month later. The babyboy, named Chancellor, survived.
Gravely wounded, Adams told the 911 operator that she had beenshot several times by someone who fired at her from another car.She said her boyfriend, Carruth, was sitting in his Ford Expeditionin front of her car when “somebody pulled up beside me and didthis.” Moaning in pain, she said, “I think he did it. I don’tknow what to think.”
Prosecutors contend Carruth, whose football career was troubledby injuries, masterminded the hit on his girlfriend because he didnot want to pay child support. Carruth has maintained hisinnocence, claiming he was miles away from the shooting and hadnothing to do with its planning. He has been jailed without bondsince December.
Differing Accounts From Watkins?
Watkins was to testify that Carruth paid him $5,000 to killAdams. Last Wednesday, Carruth’s attorneys filed a motion claimingWatkins told another version of the shooting to a jail guard — thathe shot Adams when she made an obscene gesture at him, not becauseCarruth paid to have her killed.
“She looked over at the car and seen us, she flipped me off.… I lost it. I just started shooting,” Watkins is quoted assaying in handwritten notes from a Mecklenburg County sheriff’sdeputy that were included in the filing.
The defense also claims Adams was shot just hours after Carruthrefused to finance a drug deal involving Watkins and another mancharged in Adams’ death.
“It was Rae’s fault,” the deputy recalled Watkins saying. “If he had just given us the money, none of this would have happened.”
No trial dates have been scheduled for co-defendants Kennedy,25, and Abraham, 19, who could also face the death penalty.