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CHARLOTTESVILLE – As jury selection began in the murder trial of the so-called neo-Nazi James A. Fields Jr., one of his lawyers hinted on Monday that Fields' defense could include a claim under which he was thinking of protecting himself when he allegedly killed a woman by driving her car into another vehicle on a busy street at a rally of white supremacists 15 months ago.
Questioning prospective jurors at the Charlottesville Court of Appeal, defense attorney John Hill hinted that the jury could hear during the trial that Fields, 21, "thought that 39 he was acting in self-defense "when he accidentally crashed his Dodge Challenger 2010 at Rally on the right on August 12, 2017. The crash killed the counter-protester Heather D. Heyer, 32, and injured 35 other people .
[[[[A self-appointed neo-Nazi will be tried in a fatal accident at the Charlottesville rally]
With more than 100 prospective jurors gathered in Justice Richard E. Moore's courtroom on Monday morning, Hill questioned the first group of 28 Charlottesville residents on the jury. He asked if any of them knew well the right of self defense in Virginia. Nobody said yes.
There was also an indication that the mental state of Fields could be a problem in the trial. Denise Lunsford, another Fields lawyer, listed the names of several people affiliated with the University of Virginia Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy. The institute's webpage describes this program as a "mental health, forensic, forensic psychology program" and in several related disciplines, including "forensic clinical assessments".
She also cited Fields' mother as a possible witness.
James A. Fields Jr. (Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Prison / AP)
[[[[A neo-Nazi trip fueled by anger in Charlottesville]
Commonwealth Deputy Attorney Joe Platania listed 40 possible prosecution witnesses, many of whom were law enforcement officers and first responders.
Fields, of Maumee, Ohio, near Toledo, is charged with first degree murder in Heyer's death. He is also charged with five counts of serious and malicious injuries and three counts of malicious injuries for eight of the 35 wounded. The deadly incident culminated during a day of violent clashes involving hundreds of white supremacists and their opponents, a wave of racist and anti-Semitic hatred that drew national attention to ethno-fascism emboldened at the time of President Trump.
The selection of the jury could take up to mid-week, followed by testimonials and legal arguments extending until mid-December. Anxious to indicate that it might be difficult to form an impartial jury, most potential members of the 28-member jury group stood up when Judge Moore asked them if they knew of the chaos that occurred during the rally.
When they asked the 28's they had had an opinion on Fields' guilt or innocence, 15 of them raised their hands. But all then indicated that they could dismiss their opinions and make verdicts based strictly on the evidence presented.
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