Jury selection ends in Sapry case; trial starts Monday

LACONIA — Nine men and seven women will make up the jury which will hear the murder-insanity case of Hassan Sapry who has been charged in the death of Wilfred Guzman Sr.

Five jurors were chosen Thursday in the fourth day of the jury selection process. The jury will consist of 16 people — 12 regular jurors and four alternates.

As Thursday’s interviews began, only four more jurors were needed in order to complete the panel, but midway through the proceedings, the court was informed that one of the six jurors selected on Tuesday had tested positive for COVID-19, making it necessary to select an additional juror.

Testimony in the trial is scheduled to begin Monday in Belknap Superior Court and continue for approximately two weeks.

Sapry, 24, is charged with first- and second-degree murder in connection with Guzman’s death on April 18, 2019, at Guzman’s Blueberry Lane apartment. In addition he is facing charges of theft, falsifying evidence, credit card fraud, and criminal trespass which are directly related to the homicide.

Sapry has entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, a fact which was emphasized for each of the 73 prospective jurors who appeared in court for individual voir dire interviews, which took place over three days.

The jury selection process began Monday when 181 people who had been summoned for jury duty appeared in court for the first phase of the voir dire process. Of that number, 93 were excused by Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Leonard for various reasons, including work commitments, health concerns, or prejudice against the insanity defense.

The five jurors were picked from among 23 people interviewed by lawyers for the prosecution, the defense and the judge on Thursday.

Of those interviewed, only one was disqualified for cause. Under questioning by Senior Assistant Attorney General Danielle Sakowski, the man said he wondered if pleading insanity in a criminal case might be a “cop out.” But under further questioning he promised to keep an open mind on the matter. However, when lead defense attorney Mark Sisti asked him if he was the one on trial how he would feel that someone with such personal misgivings about the insanity defense was on the jury he replied, “I wouldn’t be comfortable.”

The other 18 were excused either because of their work requirements or because they were rejected by either the prosecution or defense for no explicit reason.