The retrial of a Florida woman accused of paying an undercover cop $7,000 to kill her husband is expected to get underway on Wednesday with opening statements. LawNewz.com will carry all of the courtroom action live as soon as opening statements get underway.
Dalia Dippolito was captured on cameras during the television show “Cops” paying an undercover officer, but she says the entire thing was just an act for the producers of the television show.
The incident occurred in 2009 and she was convicted at her first trial in 2011 and sentenced to 20-years in prison for solicitation to commit first-degree murder with a firearm. However, an appeals court overturned her conviction in 2014 and granted her a new trial.
Jury selection in the case was expected to take about three days and the trial itself is expected to last about five days. However, the defense team filed multiple motions, including some for change of venue that asked the judge to select jurors from a different county due to pretrial publicity. These move delayed jury selection into a fourth day on Tuesday.
Ultimately, the judge decided sufficient safeguards were in place to ensure a fair jury can be chosen to hear the case without having selecting jurors from outside the county, as the defense suggested.
Jury selection procedures were are the heart of thee 2014 appellate court ruling that granted Dippolito a new trial.
But even after all of the delays, both sides were finally able to settle on a jury consisting of five women and three men by late Tuesday evening. This means a six-person jury, plus two alternates will begin hearing opening and witness testimony on Wednesday morning. Florida is one of only a small number of states that does not require 12-person jury all in criminal cases.
Be sure to stick with LawNewz.com throughout the entire trial for the latest information and analysis form out team of legal experts.
[image via screengrab]