Jury selection in triple-murder trial grinds forward

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The painstaking process of laying the groundwork to pick a jury in the death-penalty murder trial of a Gary man accused of killing his wife and stepchildren continued as Lake Superior Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. said he will rule on excusing jurors.

Court administrator Martin Goldman presented a breakdown of individuals who would qualify for being excused from the pool of prospective jurors for a variety of reasons, from not meeting citizenship, age or residency requirements, to medical issues or criminal records.

Stefaniak said his interpretation of court rules on jury selection show he must make that decision, not Goldman. The judge directed Goldman to prepare an electronic report for him, deputy prosecutors David Urbanski and Michelle Jatkiewicz and defense attorneys Herbert Shaps and Casey McCloskey, which they will consider at a Feb. 13 hearing.

Isom, 46, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder in the shooting deaths of his wife, Cassandra Isom, 40, and her two children, Michael Moore, 16, and Ci’Andria Cole, 13. His trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 27 and could last three to four weeks. He also has pleaded not guilty to four counts of attempted murder involving Gary police officers who arrived Aug. 6, 2007, at the Lakeshore Dunes Apartments in the Miller section of Gary, where Isom barricaded himself.

Friday’s hearing was one in a series regarding jury selection in the case. From a pool of 650 possible jurors, the spotlight is focusing on a handful of prospective jurors who have not met their jury service obligation.

Last week, as punishment for not returning to a hearing after a lunch break, Justin Humphries opted to carry a sign in front of the courts building instead of paying a monetary fine or serving time in jail. His punishment is two Monday mornings — which is jury-selection day — with a sign, “I failed to appear for jury duty.”

At the court’s direction, Goldman attempted to track down the remaining four people who responded to the initial letter but hadn’t returned their 54-page questionnaires. Goldman said he heard from one prospective juror — identified in open court as juror No. 121, Matthew Frey, 32, of Merrillville — who completed the survey but hadn’t returned it and was afraid he’d be arrested after reading a recent newspaper article about Humphries, Goldman said.

Stefaniak ordered Frey to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 13.

Goldman said he and an assistant went to four addresses of the jurors, but the homes appeared vacant. Stefaniak told Goldman not to devote additional resources to locating the three prospective jurors and excused them for cause.