Sapry jury selection will continue Monday

LACONIA — Jury selection in the second trial of Hassan Sapry is set to continue into a second week. 

The parties to the case did not select the last three jurors required for trial by end of day Friday afternoon. They’ll return to Courtroom 1 in Belknap County Superior Court downtown on Monday to round out the jury.

“We are steady at 13 jurors,” attorney Jeffery Strelzin, one of the prosecutors representing the State of New Hampshire in the case, said just before 3 p.m. on Aug. 15.

Sapry, 27, is charged with nine offenses, including first- and second-degree murder, in the 2019 death of Wilfred Guzman Sr. 

Indictments are allegations. Sapry is innocent until proven guilty. 

Sapry is represented by attorneys Mark Sisti and Amy Ashworth of Sisti Law Offices. Strelzin, along with Alexander Kellermann, are prosecuting the case.

By the end of Thursday, those parties had selected 13 jurors to determine Sapry’s fate. The state prosecutors must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Sapry committed the crimes. If they’re successful, Sisti and Ashworth intend to make a not guilty by reason of insanity defense, an affirmative defense which they must prove, and which the state does not need to oppose.

They need 16 members of the jury pool to serve on the jury during trial, which is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Aug. 19. Of the 16 jurors, 12 are active members of the jury, and four will serve as alternates.

In court Friday, 31 members of the jury pool were excused from service, and two were struck by the state.

“We knew, these last couple of days, we were going to get a lot of this,” Strelzin said at about 10:18 a.m., just before the court entered a 40-minute break. 

A number of those excused from jury duty expressed serious doubts regarding their ability to view evidence objectively, without bias and, ultimately, their ability to guarantee Sapry a fair trial as a result of their own prejudices against individuals from Iraq, or who practice the Muslim faith.

Other members of the jury pool were excused for other reasons, including potential financial hardship caused by service on the jury — a number of individuals told the court they would lose money each day they served, as their employer wouldn’t pay, and others said they were unable to find child care for the potential three-week period of trial.

Some had medical concerns regarding either themselves or a loved one. 

Others, as over previous days — jury selection started Aug. 11 — expressed what appeared to be sincere discomfort with the legal concept of insanity, and the defense’s assertion they’d make a defense on those terms.

Belknap Superior Judge Elizabeth Leonard explained to those potential jurors some of the legal mechanics of the plea, and some affirmed they could indeed remain objective if selected to serve. 

“He would have to show you that his crimes are a product of mental illness,” Leonard told one potential juror.