Attorneys selected nine people Monday to be jurors in the capital murder trial of accused cop killer Rahmael Holt.
Holt, 31, of Harrison, is accused of fatally shooting New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw following a Nov. 17, 2017, traffic stop. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if Holt is convicted.
The process to select 12 jurors and four alternates from a pool of 65 people began Monday morning in front of President Judge Rita Hathaway.
Attorneys interviewed about 50 people in the pool during the day and selected six women and three men, according to defense attorney Tim Dawson.
In addition to requiring the potential jurors to answer standard questions about their ability to be fair and impartial, they also were asked whether potential evidence about Holt illegally possessing a firearm prior to Shaw’s shooting would affect their judgment.
Dawson raised concern about the racial makeup of the jury pool, noting that none of the people in Monday’s pool was African American.
“It’s supposed to be a jury of his peers,” Dawson said.
Westmoreland County’s population is 2.6% African American, according to Census estimates.
A new group of 65 prospective jurors will report to the Westmoreland County Courthouse on Tuesday, Dawson said.
Also Monday, Hathaway denied a motion from Holt to get new attorneys.
Holt argued that he wasn’t seeing eye to eye with his two court-appointed attorneys representing him, Dawson and James Robinson. Holt claimed they hadn’t called certain witnesses or gotten a change of venue to move the trial to another county. Dawson said he had strategic reasons for calling the witnesses he did.
In denying the motion, Hathaway said Holt had two experienced attorneys representing him and that he had not provided adequate reasons for changing attorneys a week before trial.
The trial is scheduled to begin next Monday. Hathaway expected it to last nine days. There are more than 70 potential witnesses.
