NEW ORLEANS, La. (WWL-TV) – Jury selection begins this morning in the trial of Cardell Hayes, the man accused of gunning down former Saints defensive end Will Smith.
It’s the start of what could be a long, grueling process that could drag on into the night since the jury will be sequestered, an uncommon move in which jurors cannot go home until the trial ends.
The action is meant to shield them from coverage of the high-profile case, which has generated national media attention.
Smith was killed about eight months ago. It’s rare for a murder case to reach trial this quickly in Orleans Parish, and it’s equally rare for a jury to be sequestered.
Much work has already been done behind the scenes, said WWL-TV legal analyst Chick Foret.
“(Criminal District) Judge (Camille) Buras has done everything she can to streamline the jury selection process,” Foret said, adding that questionnaires have been sent out to a the pool of more than 100 potential jurors who have been summoned to Orleans Parish Criminal District Court this morning.
“It’s still going to be a lengthy process,” Foret said. “It’s going to take quite some time.”
Smith was gunned down after a traffic accident and ensuing argument on April 9 in the Lower Garden District.
Police arrested Hayes at the scene. He is accused of shooting Smith eight times. Seven bullets pierced his back. Two bullets also hit Smith’s wife, Racquel, twice in the leg.
Competing narratives paint different pictures of the night of the shooting.
Police described the shooting as a deadly case of road rage.
An attorney for Smith’s family said the ex-football star was retreating when Hayes opened fire, at which point an “enraged” Hayes fired the rounds in rapid succession.
Hayes’s attorney, meanwhile, has argued that his client was not the aggressor and that a witness told him Smith brandished a gun at some point during the argument that followed the accident.
While jury selection will take considerable time because of the sequestration order, Hayes’s defense attorneys and the prosecution will want to take their time to empanel a jury that will benefit their side.
“Cardell Hayes is going to want jurors that look like him. And not only jurors that look like him from a racial make-up and otherwise, but jurors who live like him. Jurors who have the same lifestyle,” Foret said. “The state is going to want people who are going to adopt the position that ‘Wait, Cardell Hayes fired eight shots into the back and chest on the left side of Will Smith. What’s the defense to that?’”
Hayes entered not-guilty pleas to all four counts in the indictment handed up against him: second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault and criminal damage to property.
He has remained in jail since the shooting on a $1.75 million bond.
Twelve jurors will be seated, along with four alternates.
Ten of the jurors must agree to convict in order to find Hayes guilty of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder.
