Jury selection in the murder trial of Norris Greenhouse Jr. will proceed as scheduled on Monday, 12th Judicial District Judge William “Billy” Bennett ruled today.
Bennett noted the negative nature of many social media comments and the fact that Greenhouse’s case has received much more publicity than other murder cases in Avoyelles Parish.
Despite those factors, he said the defense motion to move the trial out of Avoyelles “willneither be granted nor denied. The motion will be referred to jury selection, which will begin at 9 a.m on Monday, October 2, 2017.
“Although this court does have some serious concerns that a fair and impartial jury can be impaneled, we will never know for sure until prospective jurors are questioned,” he continued. “If it becomes more obvious at all than it already seems, then the motion will be granted.”
Greenhouse is charged with the 2nd degree murder of 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis and the attempted 2nd degree murder of the child’s father, Christopher Few, following a traffic stop on a dead end street in Marksville on Nov. 3, 2015 while Greenhouse was on duty as a Marksville City Marshal’s deputy.