HAMPTON, Va. — Jury selection began Monday morning in the Cory Bigsby murder trial.
The case garnered much attention stemming from the 2022 disappearance of his son, 4-year-old Codi Bigsby. It's likely many of the potential jurors called to Hampton Circuit Court will have heard about the case.
The attorneys will be tasked with weeding out the people who have already formed judgment about Bigsby, and to seat 12 jurors who will look at the case with an open mind.
"The odds of being able to select a 12-person jury, plus likely a couple alternates, who can commit to the idea of being completely impartial, it’s just going to be difficult, compared to sort of a standard criminal case," 13News Now Legal Analyst Ed Booth said.
Booth has experience from both sides of the law, having been a prosecutor and now a defense attorney. He said it would be difficult to find people who haven't had some exposure to a case as high-profile as this one.
"Any time that you’ve got a case that has received a lot of media focus, or even a case that has some sensitive issues that are likely to strongly impact potential jurors, it can be difficult to get people who can commit to being unbiased and come into the trial with a clean slate, ready to receive the evidence and consider everything fairly," Booth said.
Jury selection could take more than one day. Once the jury is seated, opening statements will begin and the trial against Cory Bigbsy will be underway.