Jury selection is going slowly in the current homicide trial in Juneau Superior Court.
Christopher Strawn is being retried for the 2015 death of Brandon Cook at the Kodzoff Acres Trailer Park.
Strawn, who is not a professional attorney, is representing himself and it has had a noticeable effect.
Some of his questions posed to individual members of the first jury panel have veered off topic. Strawn has a professional attorney as stand-by counsel, but he still needs basic trial procedures explained to him.
The prosecutor in the case on Tuesday morning asked prospective jurors about whether they knew the difference between circumstantial and direct evidence, whether they could use corroborating evidence to determine the existence of missing items — such as a firearm, and whether they could still find someone guilty of a crime if a motive is unknown.
Both Strawn and the prosecutor can excuse or dismiss prospective jurors for perceived bias or a relationship with one of the witnesses.
They can also dismiss prospective jurors later at their own discretion.
A second panel of prospective jurors is scheduled to be questioned Wednesday.
Strawn’s previous jury trial ended in a mistrial last February.
