Jury Selection

A group of 250 Philadelphians began going through the winnowing process Monday that will yield a Common Pleas Court jury of 12 to hear the death penalty trial of Rasheed Scrugs, accused killer of Philadelphia Police Officer John Pawlowski. The prospective jurors were queried by Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes about their feelings on the death penalty and how much they knew about the Feb. 13, 2009, shooting. Scrugs, 35, a West Philadelphia parolee, is accused of initiating the fatal shootout with police at Broad Street and Olney Avenue after a cabdriver there called 911 and said Scrugs was threatening him. Pawlowski, 25, an officer for five years, was hit in the upper chest by a bullet that passed over the top of his bulletproof vest.

Prospective jurors in the federal drug trial of reputed mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo and four associates have been quizzed about their favorite television shows, hobbies, reading habits, opinions about wire- tapping, and whether they have any close friends who are lawyers. Six jurors were selected from a pool of 100 yesterday and were immediately sequestered - including a Lancaster County music teacher whose favorite author is Agatha Christie, and a Northeast Philadelphia railroad worker who named "Night Court" as his favorite program.

Jury selection in the trial of William J. Barnes - accused of murdering Philadelphia Police Officer Walter T. Barclay Jr., who died 41 years after he was shot - started Monday, while opening arguments are scheduled for next week. The trial is unusual for the length of time between the incident, which happened on Nov. 27, 1966, and the officer's death, which came in 2007. Barnes, 73, shot Barclay after the officer found him burglarizing a beauty parlor on East Oak Lane. The officer was 23 at the time.

The jury-selection process began yesterday in the murder trial of reputed mobster Nicodemo Scarfo and eight associates in connection with the 1984 killing of Salvatore Testa. Common Pleas Court Judge Albert F. Sabo questioned, en masse, a panel of 36 prospective jurors to give attorneys in the case an idea of what biases the panelists might hold. No jurors were actually chosen. Before more than a handful of the jurors had been questioned individually, Assistant District Attorney Barbara Christie requested a back-room consultation with the judge and the defense attorneys to discuss problems with the selection process.

Jury selection was completed yesterday for the trial of two men accused of murdering Philadelphia Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski in 2008. In addition to 12 jurors, four alternates were selected by prosecution and defense attorneys during a process that began June 7. If convicted of first-degree murder, Eric D. Floyd, 35, and Levon T. Warner, 41, could be sentenced to death. Liczbinski, 39, was shot to death May 3, 2008, while trying to stop the defendants and gunman Howard Cain as they fled a Port Richmond bank they had robbed.