Is a fair trial possible?

Did anyone watch TV or the news? This was one of the questions attorney Michael Scholl, Ford's lawyer, asked the jurors after the morning break.

He wanted to know if anyone had watched the news or read the newspaper after filling out the questionaire and before attending the court that morning. Some of possible jurors admitted that yes they had read the paper or heard something in the news about the case, but many of them remained quiet or said they did not.

Scholl also wanted to know if, when they walked into the room this morning and saw John Ford sitting there, whether or not they thought he did something criminal or wrong. In other words, did they already think he was guilty.

Is he guilty? Who knows...and at this point it doesn't matter. What does matter today is that Ford gets a fair trial and that the people who are there to listen to the case give him that opportunity.

Ford's lawyer is working hard to make sure this happens. One of the follow up questions he asked the remaining possible jurors is: Who knew who John Ford was before they came to the building that morning. The answer was that nearly all of the nearly 90 remaining people did know of Ford.

Scholl's response --How hard is that?

How hard is it to have a fair trial if everyone in the room already knows the person about to go on trial? Can they really be unbiased?