Marcus Wesson Case Headed to Court

ABC30 News/January 24, 2005

A pre-trial hearing will get underway today for accused mass-murderer Marcus Wesson. Jury selection is set to begin on Tuesday.

More than 2,000 people have received summons to appear at the Del Webb Building in downtown Fresno.

But, potential jurors won't know which case they'll serve on until they arrive Tuesday morning. Defense experts Ernest Kinney says that will be quite a surprise for many of them, "There's going to be a lot of people who come into that room and are going to be in shock that it's the wesson case. It's not a pleasant case. Then, they'll find out who can be there for several months."

Wesson is accused of killing nine of his children, but his defense says there's evidence one of his daughters committed the murders before killing herself.

Even though the defense's request to move the trial out of Fresno County has been denied a number of times, the judge could still grant a change of venue if an impartial jury cannot be found.

But, defense experts believe that is unlikely.