CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
The stage is set for the trial of William Balfour, who stands accused of killing three members of Jennifer Hudson's family.
The Oscar and Grammy-winning actress and singer has been listed as a "potential" witness at the William Balfour trial.
But some veteran criminal courts attorneys are convinced Hudson will be the first prosecution witness, called the "life and death" witness.
"Life and death witness" is the archaic term for the witness who opens a murder trial, often displaying photographs of relatives, testifying with great emotion about their lives. The witness then informs the jury they are now dead.
It's testimony that's required to prove the case, and superstar singer and actress would be the natural fit.
Testifying might also allow Hudson to observe the rest of the trial as a spectator. Witnesses are often excluded from the courtroom until they've testified.
If Hudson does testify first, she could take the stand, then settle in and watch the rest of the trial.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys completed jury selection today, with the addition of four jurors.
The eighteen jurors include ten women and eight men. There appears to be seven African Americans, six whites, three Hispanics and two Asian Americans.
Judge Charles Burns said there is no decision yet on which twelve jurors will be regulars, which will be alternates.
Those who will sit in the jury box when testimony begins April 23 include a junior high school teacher, a Fed Ex courier and an unemployed bank teller who lives three blocks from court.
Among other selected to serve on the panel were several people who said they had relatives who were murdered and a man who said that 25 years ago, an attacker grabbed his sister's purse at a bus stop and slashed her throat, badly injuring her.
Also chosen were a Mexican-American truck driver who said he sometimes has trouble speaking English, a Jesse White tumbler, a retired CTA dispatcher whose son was shot and rendered a paraplegic, and a customer representative at a chocolate company who responded when asked about her hobbies that, "I like to sleep, then I like to eat, then I sleep again."
Among those dismissed were a man whose neighbors were police and FBI agents, a Chicago school teacher who was once a character witness for a student charged with murder, and an unemployed widow whose nephew recently killed his pregnant wife.
"It's way too close to home," she said when asked if she could hear the Balfour trial dispassionately. "It's just that there's a child involved, and I can't get past that."
Only a few people said they knew little to nothing about Hudson. One woman in her 30s picked for the jury said she had heard of Hudson but had no idea what she looked like.
Several people who said they were fans of Hudson and couldn't set aside their sympathy were dismissed.
Cook County Circuit Judge Charles Burns has asked jurors not to watch "American Idol" this Thursday. The Oscar and Grammy-winning actress and singer may appear on the show.
"American Idol" has slated Hudson to perform a new single. Hudson got her break on the singing competition.
The judge told jurors, "please don't watch" the show. He said they shouldn't watch or read any news about Hudson or the case as they wait for testimony to begin.
William Balfour, 30, is charged with murdering Hudson's mother, brother and nephew in 2008, and he faces a mandatory life prison sentence if convicted of murdering at least two of the victims.
Hudson, who was not in Chicago at the time her family members were killed, told investigators she was in touch with her mother almost every day and became concerned when she couldn't reach her by late morning on Oct. 24, 2008.
Hours later, the bodies of her mother, Darnell Donnerson, 57, and brother, Jason Hudson, 29, were found shot to death in the family home. The body of her 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, was found days later in an SUV several miles away.
Balfour's lawyers have said the evidence is circumstantial. But prosecutors say the proof includes gun residue found on his car's steering wheel, and that testimony will show he lied about his whereabouts the day of the killings.
(The Associated Press and Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.)
Full Jury Chosen for Jennifer Hudson Murder Trial | Originally posted by myfoxchicago.com
