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Craigslist trial juror dismissed
A lawyer's handling of a replica of the firearm used in the killing upset the juror and drew the judge's warning.
By ABBY SIMONS, Star Tribune
Last update: March 27, 2009 - 11:18 PM
A juror upset by the handling of a gun during the fifth day of testimony of Michael Anderson's murder trial was dismissed Friday, leading the judge to issue a stern warning to the defense attorney who had pointed the inoperative firearm toward jurors.
"No one is ever going to have a replica firearm pointed at another person in this courtroom," Scott County District Judge Mary Theisen said before the jury returned following a noon break. "If it does happen, I will chastise you in front of the jury."
Theisen then left the courtroom to talk to the juror, who eventually asked to be excused.
The controversy came following defense attorney Alan Margoles' questioning of Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension firearms expert Kurt Moline, in which Margoles, holding a handgun similar to the one used to kill Katherine Ann Olson, pointed it in the general direction of the jury. The act upset one female juror.
Defense attorneys maintain that Anderson, 20, shot Olson accidentally after she answered an ad for a baby sitter he had posted on Craigslist in October 2007. They have argued that he intended to lure Olson, 24, to his parents' Savage home only for sex or romance, and killed her accidentally after pointing his father's revolver at her. Prosecutors contend he intentionally killed Olson, with premeditation.
Before the break, Margoles requested that the jury each be able to draw back the hammer and pull the trigger on the unloaded and disabled .357 Ruger Blackhawk revolver that killed Olson. The request was met with trepidation by Theisen, who eventually denied it.
"I don't think this has ever been done before, and it makes me uncomfortable ... particularly when some have expressed discomfort, in a courtroom full of spectators," Theisen said, adding that if jurors wish to handle the weapon during deliberations, they may do so.
Margoles countered that jurors frequently handle evidence, and this was important to show jurors how the trigger could easily be accidentally pulled. During questioning of Moline, however, prosecutors pointed out that several deliberate steps needed to be taken to cock and fire the gun.
Anderson's former cellmate at the Scott County jail also testified Friday, telling jurors that Anderson bragged about his notoriety as the "Craigslist killer."
Gregory Wikan, 35, of St. Paul said he urged Anderson not to discuss the case, but Anderson said he didn't care:
"He said they're trying to put him away for a long time,'' Wikan testified. "They found a girl in the trunk, and [he said] he was pretty much guilty of it."
Dr. Lindsey Thomas of the Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner's Office in Hastings, testified about the results of the autopsy she performed on Olson. Thomas said the single bullet struck Olson in the right side of her back and traveled to the left side of her abdomen without exiting her body.
The bullet tore through her spinal column, pancreas, small intestines, stomach and grazed her aorta. Thomas said she did not know whether Olson lost consciousness immediately, but that it was unlikely she would have survived long because of the internal bleeding.
Testimony in the case will resume Monday. The case is expected to go the jury by the middle of next week.
Abby Simons • 612-673-4921
