PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) -- Attorneys and circuit court officials were expected to travel to Simpson County Sunday to prepare for jury selection in the capital murder case of Jonathan White, accused in the slaying of Moss Point Police Officer Larry Lee.
Lee, 41, was killed in October of 2002, during a high-speed chase. Police say the vehicle pursuit started after Moss Point Police officer Carlton Logan initiated a traffic stop. As Logan approached the vehicle, the driver pulled away. White, who was traveling southbound in the northbound lane, hit Lee’s patrol car on a bridge on Mississippi 63, authorities said.
Lee was thrown from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.
The trial was originally scheduled for May, but has been delayed numerous times over the past five months.
After jurors are selected, they will be transported to Pascagoula and sequestered for the duration of the trial.
Opening statements and witness testimony will begin Tuesday morning at the Jackson County Courthouse.
In May, the trial continued when public defenders Brice Kerr and Donald Smith asked the court for a change of venue because of pretrial publicity. Circuit Court Judge Dale Harkey did not agree to taking the trial out of Jackson County, but did agree to have a jury selected from another county.
The trial was delayed again in August after White filed several motions in his own behalf. Although the trial was continued, the motions were never heard in open court as White refused to present them.
The trial was again continued last month after Kerr and Smith requested time to obtain an expert witness who is expected to testify concerning police procedure. The most recent delay occurred Oct. 4, when Smith suffered a broken hip the Sunday before jury selection was to begin.