One-third of 49 potential Kilpatrick jurors from minority groups - KMSP-TV

For the past few days, tensions ran high as attorneys worked to seat a jury in the Kwame Kilpatrick corruption trial, but Thursday the defense had no complaints.

There have been tempers flaring.  We've had lawyers question whether jurors were lying, even questioning whether they were stealth jurors and that they had more than their civic duty in mind when they said they wanted to serve on the jury.  However, the sixth day had an entirely different mood.

You wouldn't know it by just looking at them, but defense attorneys were happy Thursday, even Bobby Ferguson's pit bull attorney Mike Rataj.

"It looks like it's shaping up pretty good.  No doubt about that."

One reason is the racial makeup of the jury pool.  One-third of the 49 potential jurors are from minority groups.

"It's not just diverse in terms of black-white, but I mean we've had other groups represented.  It's a healthy mix, I think, of males and females, so I think it's a positive thing, and I think everybody would agree with that," said John Shea, attorney for Bernard Kilpatrick.

That's a big change from early on when Kwame Kilpatrick said he didn't think he could get a fair trial.

His father's attorney said by the time it's all over, this will be more than a case about race.

"When racial issues arise, when a racial term is used, when a concept that has racial overtones is introduced, how is it going to affect the jury?  That doesn't mean that any of us think this case is about race."

By the time this trial concludes, we will hear more about race, but it is probably safe to say that everybody is ready for this case to get to the evidence and to get underway.