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Ballard trial begins again in Woodford

October 13, 2009|By Fred Petke

VERSAILLES — Jury selection began anew Monday morning, as attorneys searched for an impartial jury in Woodford County to try murder suspect Lewis "Buck" Ballard.

Jury selection in Bourbon County, where 6-year-old Wesley Mullins was killed in August 2007, stalled Thursday afternoon after two days of individual questioning by attorneys and the judge. Circuit Judge Rob Johnson decided Thursday to move the case to Versailles, which is in the same judicial circuit.

Commonwealth's Attorney Gordie Shaw said none of the potential jurors from Bourbon County would carry over, and the process started at the beginning Monday.

Ballard, 50, may face the death penalty if he is convicted of killing and sodomizing Mullins.

Ballard was staying with Mullins' grandfather in Paris that summer, when the boy came for a visit before school began at Strode Station Elementary. Paris Police found Mullins' body in his grandfather's garage with multiple blunt force injuries to his head.

Individual juror questioning began Monday and is scheduled to run through Wednesday afternoon, Johnson told the 112 potential jurors. Those not excused individually will return Thursday morning for group questions. Opening statements are scheduled for Thursday afternoon, with testimony beginning Friday.

During most trials, potential jurors are only questioned as a group. In death penalty cases, the attorneys and the judge are allowed to interview the jurors one by one.

In individual questioning in Paris, potential jurors were asked how much they have heard about the case and whether they could consider and possibly recommend any of the potential sentences, from 20 years in prison to the death penalty.

Johnson told the jurors Monday that the trial should take two and a half weeks to complete.

The jury selection process ended during individual questioning in Bourbon County late Thursday afternoon. Ballard's attorneys had argued for a change of venue several times due to the publicity surrounding the case. Johnson made the motion after a second day of juror interviews.

Contact Fred Petke at fpetke@winchestersun.com.

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