One woman sat in the jury box alone, puzzled as U.S. District Judge Daniel T. K. Hurley asked her whether she could consider factors that would support a life sentence instead of a death penalty if she sat on a jury that convicted two men of charges related to the 2006 deaths of a young family of four.

"I mean, what overrides the death of small children?" the woman asked.

By noon today, two other women had been in tears.

The judge later explained that one said she couldn't under any circumstances sentence anyone to die, and the other would have faced a hardship and possibly a legal liability if she took that much time away from work.

And so went the beginning of jury selection in the case known as the "Turnpike" slayings.

In October 2006, Jose Luis Escobedo, 28, his wife, Yessica, 25, and their 3 and 4-year-old sons Luis Damian and Luis Julian, were shot to death along Florida's Turnpike in Port St. Lucie, victims of an apparent drug-related killing.

Daniel Troya and Ricardo Sanchez Jr. face the death penalty if convicted on charges related to the slayings. Danny Varela and Liana Lee Lopez, face life in prison on drug charges.

Investigators say the four, along with Jose Luis Escobedo, were involved in a drug-trafficking operation that transported cocaine between Texas and Florida.

More than 2,000 jury questionnaires were sent out. Several hundred were dismissed because the potential jurors were exempt from service. Attorneys reviewed those remaining and submitted lists of people to dismiss. In the end, the group was narrowed to a little of more than 300 potential jurors.

Attorneys this afternoon also argued issues related to the case, such as whether defense experts should have to hand over results of psychological tests on Troya and Sanchez to state experts and whether Hurley should question potential jurors individually regarding their thoughts on the death penalty.

Hurley said he will continue to question the panel in groups of about 14 people, hoping to get through two groups each day. Jurors who make it through the first round of questioning will be called back in about two weeks for a final jury selection.

Several members of the defendants' families were in court today, and Assistant U.S. Attorney John Kastranenkas said members of the Escobedo family were expected to arrive next week.

The trial is expected to last between two and three months.

Tags: Escobedo, Jose Luis Escobedo, Luis Damia, Luis Julian, Turnpike, Yessica

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 at 12:32 pm and is filed under Courts, Crime, Port St. Lucie. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.