Jury selection in Sapry trial begins Monday; could take all week

LACONIA — About 200 people summoned for jury duty will be at the Belknap County Courthouse on Monday as the process to pick a jury for the murder-insanity trial of Hassan Sapry gets underway.

All of next week has been set aside for the process of picking the 12 jurors and four alternates who will hear testimony about Sapry’s role in the murder of Wilfred Guzman in April 2019, and his mental state at the time of the murder.

Sapry, 24, is charged with both first- and second-degree murder in Guzman’s death as well as related charges of theft, credit card fraud, and destroying evidence.

Sapry’s attorneys have said their client intends to plead not guilty by reason of insanity due to horrific events he witnessed while growing up in Iraq. Psychiatrists for the prosecution and defense agree that Sapry suffers from severe mental illness, but disagree over whether that mental illness was the direct cause of his actions at the time Guzman was killed.

Testimony is scheduled to begin on Aug. 15, and could last two to three weeks, making it the longest criminal trial in Belknap County in recent years.

The prosecution has 36 people on its witness list. The defense has listed eight people.

Judge Elizabeth Leonard, who will preside over the trial, sent letters to all prospective jurors last week explaining how the jury selection process will work.

Those summoned will be brought in Monday in two groups of 100 each. The first group will be there in time for 9 a.m. The second group will show up in time for a 1 p.m. court session.

After Leonard gives a brief overview about jury service, the attorneys for the prosecution and defense will introduce themselves to the panel. The group will also hear the names of the witnesses who are expected to testify.

Leonard will then ask the panel a series of questions that are designed to identify any possible conflicts of interest, such as knowing one of the witnesses, or the victim, or the accused or members of the respective families, as well as preconceived notions, prejudices or biases that could make it questionable that they could be impartial.

After the judge finishes her instructions in the process called "voir dire," those in the group who feel they should answer “yes” to any of the questions will be asked to raise their hands. Those who don’t raise their hands will be excused and instructed to come back to court later in the week.

Those who do raise their hands will be called up to the judge’s bench one at a time where each one will quietly tell the judge and attorneys about their potential conflict after which Leonard will decide if that person should be excused.

Those who are not excused, along with those who have no obvious conflicts of interest, will then go through the individual voir dire process. That will involve each remaining prospective juror to come into court, one at a time, to take the witness stand, swear an oath, and then answer questions from both prosecution and defense attorneys, and also possibly from the judge.

Based on the answers, an attorney can challenge the juror for cause, or even challenge the juror without giving a reason — called a peremptory challenge.

In first-degree murder cases, the prosecution and defense are each allowed at least 15 peremptory challenges.

The voir dire process will continue until 12 jurors and four alternates are seated.

In her letter, Leonard told the prospective jurors that the testimony phase of the trial is expected to last two weeks. As a contingency, the court has allotted three weeks for the trial.

Leonard also told those being summoned to jury duty to “immediately” stop reading, listening, or viewing any accounts concerning the case, whether in the media or online.