When police officers are called to the stand, will you give their testimony more weight just because they have a badge?
Do you have any moral or religious reasons why you cannot sit in judgment of someone?
Do you believe the government is always right?
Do you consider yourself to be a racist?
These were among the questions attorneys posed to a pool of 60 potential jurors called to court Friday, Sept. 6 for the process of voir dire — jury selection — for the decade-old quadruple homicide case being tried this week in Judge Joshua Christensen’s courtroom.
Scott Goodwin-Bey, 57, is facing four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of armed criminal action.
Goodwin-Bey is accused of shooting four people to death inside Room 149 at the Glenstone Place motel on North Glenstone Avenue on Nov. 15, 2014. The victims were Trevor Fantroy, 43; Lewis Green, 44; Danielle Keyes, 29; and Christopher Freeman, 24.
Once the 60 Greene County residents were seated in the courtroom gallery Friday morning, Christensen thanked them for fulfilling their civic duty.
“Serving on a jury is a sacred and solemn duty you have as citizens,” Christensen said. “Without jurors our system simply would not function.”
Christensen told the jury pool the trial is not expected to last more than a week and it is not a death penalty case.
Goodwin-Bey was initially charged in 2015, but prosecutors dropped the charges in 2016 after now-retired Judge Calvin Holden ruled Goodwin-Bey’s gun could not be incontrovertibly connected to bullets found at the scene.
Goodwin-Bey had been in federal prison on an illegal gun charge since 2017, but was transferred to the Greene County Jail in February 2023 to face murder charges in circuit court following a grand jury indictment.
Following a hearing in August at which multiple experts weighed in on the reliability of firearms evidence, Judge Christensen ruled the evidence was admissible.
Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Harrel was first to question the pool. He explained the phrase “voir dire” comes from an old French term that means “to speak the truth.”
The prosecutor went on to say the whole purpose of Friday’s proceedings was to seat the most fair and impartial jury they could pick.
Goodwin-Bey is charged with a serious crime, Harrel said, and “he deserves to have his case heard by the fairest jury that we can get.”
Harrel questioned the pool about whether they heard or read media stories about the case. A handful of people said they had, but all said what little they recalled would not impact their ability to be fair and impartial.
Prosecutor warns of graphic photos
Harrel warned the potential jurors that if they are picked, they would hear and see graphic photos and testimony.
“In short, this is going to be rough material,” Harrel said. “Truthfully, nobody likes hearing that kind of testimony.
“We deal with this,” he said, referring to his colleagues in the courtroom and within the justice system, “because it is our job and our system of justice requires it … so both the defendant and the state can get a fair trial.”
For those who would be chosen to be on the jury, it would become their job as well, Harrel said.
One man raised his hand, indicating he would have trouble viewing crime scene and autopsy photos. He explained he has epilepsy. He feared the stress of seeing such evidence could be a “trigger” for his epilepsy.
A woman said she has post-traumatic stress disorder and that her husband died very recently. Another woman raised her hand and said she witnessed a fatal shooting of a family member in the past and didn’t think she’d be able to sit on the jury.
Harrel asked the 60 people if any were fans of shows like “CSI” or if they believed “crimes should be solved in an hour.”
Harrel spoke to them about circ*mstantial evidence and making inferences. He explained that direct, eyewitness and circ*mstantial evidence are “treated equally in the eyes of the law.” He asked if anyone would have issues trusting circ*mstantial evidence. Several raised their hands.
“I don’t trust circ*mstantial evidence,” one woman said, adding that she couldn’t convict someone based solely on circ*mstantial evidence.
“No matter how strong?” Harrel asked this woman. No, she responded.
Victims, witnesses were involved in ‘drug culture’
Harrel went on to talk about the victims of the 2014 quadruple homicide and about many of the witnesses expected to testify this week.
Some were “heavily involved, at the time, for lack of a better term, in drug culture,” Harrel said. One of the victims was a prostitute, Harrel said. He asked if any of this would impact their ability to be fair.
No one raised their hand.
Harrel asked again about witnesses who may have been using drugs in 2014 and if potential jurors would “automatically disbelieve a witness solely because they were on drugs.”
Again, no one raised their hand.
“Anyone here feel like only perfect people deserve the protections of the law?” Harrel asked.
“I see no hands,” the prosecutor said after a few moments.
Memories may have faded after 10 years
Harrel reminded the potential jurors that the murders happened some 10 years ago. He asked if anyone would “automatically disbelieve a witness because they couldn’t remember” something from 2014 or if their memory today differed from how they recalled it when questioned years ago.
No one raised their hand.
Harrel asked if they would automatically disbelieve a witness if their account is different from someone else’s.
“I see no hands,” Harrel said after giving the 60 people time to consider his question.
Harrel then went through a list of names — names of the victims and of the numerous people involved in the case, including witnesses, investigators and firearms experts — to learn if anyone in the jury pool recognized any.
“I see no hands,” Harrel said after each name.
The prosecutor questioned the jury pool about whether they would give more or less weight to a law enforcement officer’s testimony based solely on them being an officer. This prompted several people to raise their hands and explain why they might lend a police officer more credibility.
Harrell asked about their past dealings with the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and with the Springfield Police Department.
One woman — someone who raised her hand multiple times and clearly didn’t want to serve on the jury — said she had an “extremely negative” experience with the prosecutor’s office. Harrel asked if it would impact her ability to be fair.
“I think I can safely say yes,” the woman said firmly.
Will race be an issue?
Goodwin-Bey is Black. Two of the victims, Trevor Fantroy and Lewis Green, were also Black.
Of the 60 people in the jury pool Friday, none are Black. At one point, defense attorney Hannah Kahn asked the potential jurors to raise their hands if they identified as a race other than white.
Two men raised their hands. One said he was Asian. The other said he was Latino.
“Who here considers themselves to be a racist?” Kahn asked. No one raised their hand.
Kahn went on to share a quote from civil rights activist Jesse Jackson: “There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps … then turn around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”
As Kahn questioned the pool about their thoughts on race and Jackson’s sentiments, Harell objected. Christensen said it was a good time to take a break and excused the jury pool for a few minutes while the attorneys made their arguments.
Harrel argued it was not appropriate for potential jurors to “speculate if this is a fair cross section of the community,” adding that it was something one potential juror had already done.
“That is a legal issue and not something for a jury,” Harrel said.
Christensen agreed and told Kahn to “keep it on topic.”
Several potential jurors were crime victims
Harrel asked the pool if anyone — or if they had a close friend or family member — had been a victim of a crime. Because so many people raised their hands, Harrel went row-by-row, giving each person who raised their hands an opportunity to explain what happened to them and if they thought it would affect their ability to sit on the jury.
One man said he suffered “years of abuse at the hands of my dad,” but said he didn’t think it would affect his ability to be fair.
Others spoke about friends and family members who had been murdered. Some spoke of being assaulted and being the victims of property crimes.
One man said he lived three houses away from Hailey Owens, the 10-year-old Springfield girl who was kidnapped, raped and murdered in 2014.
“I watched her get kidnapped,” that man said.
By the time people in the back row were given a chance to speak about being crime victims, one of the women in that row was in tears.
“I have a friend that was shot and killed,” she said.
Harrel said he was sorry and asked if it would affect her ability to be fair and impartial.
She said no and added: “I think the opposite.”
The woman then looked around and said something to the effect of being sympathetic to Goodwin-Bey.
“The poor guy doesn’t have any African Americans in here,” she said. “And I find that sad.”
Being fair and impartial ‘easier said than done’
After Kahn introduced herself to the jury pool, she said, “It’s our pleasure to come to the defense of Scott Goodwin-Bey.”
‘This process is so important because in just a couple of hours, we hope to have a jury that is fair and impartial,” Kahn said, adding that everyone likes to believe they can be fair and impartial but it’s “easier said than done.”
“We are all adults with a lifetime of experiences that we would bring to this trial,” Kahn said.
She questioned the 60 people about whether they believe the government is always right or if they believe an innocent person could be charged with a crime.
“Is anyone looking at Scott now and thinking, ‘Well, he must have done something or he wouldn’t be here?’” she asked. No one raised their hand.
“I’m glad to hear that,” the defense attorney responded. She then went on to explain that Goodwin-Bey is to be presumed innocent and what that means.
“He will continue to be presumed innocent unless the state meets its burden,” Kahn said.
Attorney: Defendant unlikely to testify
Kahn told the pool that she does not expect Goodwin-Bey to testify at his trial. She explained that if he does not testify, the judge will instruct the jury to not make any inference of guilt based on Goodwin-Bey not testifying.
“Is anybody unable to follow that instruction?” she asked. “I see no hands.”
Kahn asked if anyone would find it difficult to find Goodwin-Bey not guilty if he doesn’t testify and “tell hisstory.”
Again, no one raised their hand.
Kahn told the potential jurors that Goodwin-Bey has past convictions and asked if that might affect their opinions of him. More than one person raised their hand.
One man said he believes if a person can commit a felony, “it’s easier to do it a second time” and that “to me, it shows a pattern.”
Some worried about being pressured
Kahn questioned the pool about the possibility of feeling pressure from other jurors in deliberations. She asked if deliberations continue past 5 p.m., “can you all promise me you will not rush?”
Two hands went up.
“If it takes too long, I’m going to get antsy,” one man said. “That’s just the truth of it.”
Kahn asked the man if he would change his vote if he was the sole ‘not guilty’ vote and deliberations were going into the night.
“It is very possible,” he replied.
Another woman echoed this.
“I think I would feel uncomfortable if it seems to go on indefinitely,” she said. “I’m afraid I would cave.”
