Own guns? Trust cops? Fell trial jurors face questions

What guns do you own? Do you use drugs? How trustworthy are police officers?

Those are some of the questions Vermonters will answer during jury selection for the upcoming retrial of Donald Fell, 36, who faces the death penalty on federal charges of kidnapping and carjacking with death resulting.

A 33-page questionnaire was made public recently at federal court in Burlington as preparations ramp up ahead of the scheduled February start of the trial for Fell, who is charged in connection with the November 2000 slaying of 53-year-old Terri King of North Clarendon.

"These questions are not meant to ask unnecessarily about personal matters," U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford wrote in an introduction, adding that the answers will help in assembling a fair and impartial jury. "It is very important that the answers be yours and yours alone. Remember, there are no 'right' or 'wrong' answers; just be completely candid and truthful."

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Having potential jurors fill out a written form is a common practice, but such extensive questioning is rare in Vermont, where state law provides no death penalty for murder cases. But Fell is being tried under federal law in a complicated, high-profile case with court proceedings expected to last several months.

The questionnaire contains 75 questions — many of which contain multiple parts and follow-ups — that Crawford proposed and sent to prosecution and defense lawyers for feedback. In mid-February, some 600 potential jurors are scheduled to arrive at three federal courthouses across Vermont to fill out the questionnaire, which will help lawyers and the judge winnow the field to a smaller group for individual questioning in court and, eventually, to serve on the jury of 12 members and four alternates.

The questions also will help determine how much of an effect publicity has had on potential jurors. Journalists have covered the Fell case extensively during its byzantine 16-year journey through the legal system, which included a conviction and death sentence in 2005 that was overturned nearly a decade later due to juror misconduct, prompting the upcoming retrial.

Fell's defense team has asked Crawford to move the trial out of Vermont, or at least away from Rutland, arguing the media coverage has biased potential jurors against the defendant. Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office counter the jury-selection process can weed out any biased Vermonters or determine if bias is so pervasive the trial needs take place elsewhere.

That's where the questions come in.

Under six headings — "questions about your background," "questions about your experiences and beliefs," "questions concerning important legal principles," "questions concerning the death penalty," "questions concerning the media" and "your schedule" — the inquiries include broad topics such as education and employment histories, and specifics as detailed as the ages and genders of a potential juror's children.

Here's a summary of some of the items on the list:

• Are you a member or supporter of a volunteer police group, militia or police auxiliary?
• Do you, a relative or a close friend own any guns? If so, what type, how many and why? 
• Do you believe that any group receives unfair treatment from police, prosecutors or the FBI? If yes, explain. Could you put aside those opinions during the trial? 
• Do you have any "bias, sympathy, or prejudice" toward Fell, or toward the government? 
• Are federal gun laws unconstitutional, or should they not be enforced? 
• Describe your views on the death penalty. Are they so strong you would be unable to perform your duties as a juror?
• Have you or anyone you know ever signed a petition seeking to establish the death penalty in Vermont?

A jury convicted Fell in 2005 of abducting and killing King in after she arrived for work at a Rutland supermarket. Fell and an accomplice, who later died in prison, were fleeing from the double slaying of Fell's mother and a friend of hers in Rutland when they encountered King as they searched for a getaway vehicle, then stole her car and forced her inside, government prosecutors allege.

The pair drove King to New York state, where they beat and stomped her to death in a field while she prayed for her life, according to court papers and testimony.

Fell pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping and carjacking with death resulting, though his lawyers argued during the 2005 trial that he did kill King but should be spared the death penalty because of mitigating circumstances including his mental capacity and difficult upbringing.

He was sent to death row following the verdict but has since been transferred to a federal detention facility in Brooklyn, New York.

Whether the trial will begin in February as scheduled remains unclear. Late Friday, Fell's lawyers filed a request for a delay.

This story was first posted online on Dec. 10, 2016. Contact Adam Silverman at 660-1854 or asilverman@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @wej12.

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