Beege Welborn

I read a Telegraph piece this morning about how the 'fair trial' issue is coming up because there are no Muslims on the jury. 

...Nathaniel Barone, Mr Matar’s lawyer, has said he did not believe his client could have a fair trial in Chautauqua, where the county’s 124,000 residents are more than 80 per cent white.

“Do you know, during jury selection, I didn’t have, out of over hundreds of jurors, I didn’t have any Muslims, any one of the Muslim religion, I had no one of Middle Eastern descent in that jury pool,” Mr Barone told The Telegraph.

“So how is that a fair trial? How is that a trial of Mr Matar’s peers,” Mr Barone said.

The lawyer had previously attempted to move the trial on the grounds that the high publicity of the case and the lack of diversity in the county meant the defendant could not receive a fair trial. His argument was opposed by district attorney Jason Schmidt and the request was denied by the court.

Mr Schmidt has said he does not believe they will need to delve into discussions about Mr Matar’s religious beliefs or his background in this case.