MEMPHIS, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- A jury was being picked in Nashville Monday to hear a trial in Memphis for a man accused of killing six family members and friends.
Although the trial of Jessie Dotson, charged with six counts of first-degree murder, will be held in Memphis, the jury is being selected in Nashville after a judge granted a request by the defense, which argued pretrial publicity in Memphis meant an impartial jury could not be found there, The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal reported Monday.
Twelve jurors and four alternates chosen this week will be bused to Memphis and sequestered for the trial, which is expected to last about three weeks, the newspaper said.
"I want to welcome you and let you know this is actually Criminal Court Division 10 for Shelby County," Judge James Beasley Jr. told the first 18 prospective jurors Monday morning. "We came to Davidson County because of the large amount of publicity this case has generated in Shelby County."
Dotson, 35, also is charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a handgun in the killing of four adults and two children in Memphis in 2008.
Dotson, who had just been paroled for a previous murder conviction, is the uncle of the dead children and faces the death penalty if convicted.
The four adult victims were Dotson's brother Cecil Dotson, 30; Cecil's girlfriend, Marissa Rene Williams, 27; Cecil's friend, Hollis Seals, 33; and Seals's girlfriend, Shindri Roberson, 22.
The two child victims, Cemario Dotson, 4, and Cecil Dotson II, 2, and three other wounded children are all children of Cecil Dotson.
The shootings allegedly started with an argument between Jessie and Cecil Dotson.
