Judge denies motion to seek more diverse jury pool in murder trial
(ABC 6 News) – Mustafa Bush will not receive a new jury pool, according to a motion filed Friday, Oct. 25.
At the beginning of Bush’s murder trial jury selection, his defense filed a motion claiming the panel under-represented “African-American,” or Black individuals as reflected in Olmsted County’s census.
Only one juror in the panel of 93 prospective options identified as such, according to court documents.
On Friday judge Douglas C. Bayley denied the motion, stating that a prima facie claim must prove that over time, a systematic problem with jury selection leads to the exclusion of a specific group.
In this, there was no evidence that the jury pool — randomly selected from a group of people who can communicate in English and are residents of the county — actively excluded Black potential jurors, Bayley ruled.
The motion also did not provide or consider how many Black people in Olmsted County are eligible to serve as jurors — which may be a lower percentage than the total population, Bayley added.
Mustafa Bush’s murder trial is scheduled to begin Monday, Oct. 28.
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(ABC 6 News) – Mustafa Bush’s defense objected to the first jury pool in a motion filed late Monday, Oct. 21.
Bush is accused of the murder of Kim Robinson over Christmas of 2022.
RELATED: Friends remember Kim Robinson while alleged murderer awaits trial – ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com
On Monday, Bush’s defense moved to pull a new panel of jurors– one that is “an actual clear representation of the cross-section of the population of Olmsted County.”
“As it currently stands, any jury panel, as selected grossly under-represents a fair cross-section
of the population of Olmsted County as the panels are grossly under-represented by African-American individuals as reflected in the United States Census Bureau statistics for Olmsted County,” the motion continued.
His defense also filed a motion to block nine statements Robinson allegedly made to friends and family about previous incidents of physical violence, claiming the statements were hearsay at best, and untrustworthy at worst.
ABC 6 News will update this story as more Bush’s trial proceedings continue.
PREVIOUS COURTS REPORTING:
Previous killing brought up in Christmas murder pretrial motions – ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com
Mustafa Bush defense files motion to suppress mentioning previous murder – ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com