Kilpatrick jury selection moving slowly; pool somewhat diverse - KMSP-TV

Developments Monday morning had Bobby Ferguson attorney, Mike Rataj, scratching his head after a judge refused to dismiss a potential juror defense attorneys suspected of being too eager to serve.

Rataj called him a stealth juror and said, "If this juror doesn't get dismissed for cause, I don't know who can".

Still, by the end of the day, a black male and two black women were added to the pool of potential jurors.

Bobby Ferguson attorney Gerald Evelyn stopped short of calling it a good day.

"Because they're all connected, you would be foolish to come to a conclusion about how good a day you're having when you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow."

Bernard Kilpatrick wasn't so conservative, however.

"It was better," he told Fox 2's Charlie Langton and gave the thumbs up.

The slow pace of jury selection raises questions about whether there will be opening statements on Friday as scheduled.  So far, there are 24 potential jurors and it is somewhat of a diverse group.  There are two black women, one black man, an Asian man, an American Indian woman and a Middle Eastern woman.

However, they are not on the jury yet.  Once there are 66 potential jurors, there will be another round of questioning to whittle it down to the jury that will stand in judgment of Kwame Kilpatrick, his father, Bernard, their friend, Bobby Ferguson, and the former water department head, Victor Mercado.