Jury chosen in Adele Sorella 1st-degree murder trial
6 men, 6 women will decide whether Laval woman killed her daughters Amanda and Sabrina in 2009
A jury is now ready to hear the first-degree murder trial of 52-year-old Adele Sorella.
The Laval woman is facing two charges in connection with the 2009 deaths of her daughters, Amanda, 9, and Sabrina, 8.
Superior Court Justice Marc David presided over the selection of jury members.
Six women and six men were chosen from a pool of 1,000 at the Laval courthouse. Two others were chosen as alternate jurors.
Potential jurors were questioned on their fluency in both English and French, and on whether they feel able to deliver a verdict based solely on what they were to hear in court and on the trial judge's instructions.
One juror excused, reluctantly
After the lunch break Wednesday, juror number four asked to be exempted from the jury because of a staffing situation with her work.
Justice David told her that as a sworn-in juror, she has already committed to serving as a judge in the trial.
The woman said that if she were to sit full-time as a juror for the duration of the trial, her personal and professional relationships would both suffer.
After consulting with the Crown and defence lawyers, David decided he would release the woman from the jury — but not before lamenting her employer's poor sense of corporate citizenship.
"I'm not pleased with this situation," said David, asking the woman if it would cause her harm in her workplace if he were to order her employer to come to court and answer before the actual trial judge.
She said it would.
David then asked the woman to be his spokesperson and convey his disapproval.
"This does not reflect the values of this society and this country," he said.
Criminal lawyers Pierre and Guy Poupart are defending Sorella.
The brothers represented Guy Turcotte, who in December 2015 was convicted of the 2009 second-degree murders of his two children.
Three prosecutors are working on the file for the Crown.
The trial is scheduled to begin Monday before Justice Sophie Bourque and is expected to last about three months.
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