CINCINNATI – Concerns for jurors' privacy and safety may have kept them from walking down the street where former police officer Ray Tensing admits he shot and killed Sam DuBose during a traffic stop in 2015.
Fears that someone might take pictures of the jurors and post them on social media may have led to the decision to keep the jurors inside two sheriff's vans with tinted windows that took them to Mount Auburn Tuesday morning.
Jurors on scene near Rice & Valencia, arrived in sheriff's office vans. @WCPO #TensingTrial pic.twitter.com/aY019GbtuJ
— Ally Kraemer (@AllyKraemer) November 1, 2016
Police on foot, bicycles and in cars watched over the jurors and blocked traffic for the 20 minutes on Thill and Rice streets, while attorneys for the defense and prosecution stood unconcerned outside.
Deters and company on scene. @WCPO pic.twitter.com/1jyF7i9zoD
— Julie O'Neill WCPO (@JulieONeillWCPO) November 1, 2016
A makeshift streetside memorial for DuBose was removed before jurors arrived.
This is what memorial at Rice & Valencia looked like yesterday. Memorial taken down before jury visit today. @WCPO #TensingTrial pic.twitter.com/RKG7JT8mVC
— Ally Kraemer (@AllyKraemer) November 1, 2016
A court bailiff on the vans pointed out the pertinent spots – most notably:
- where Tensing pulled over DuBose's car as it turned right from Thill onto Rice.
- where the fatal encounter took place.
- the corner of Rice and Valencia, where DuBose's car drifted with him slumped dead on the front seat until it jumped the curb and stopped against a utility pole.
WARNING: Shooting video contains disturbing images, sounds.
The vans then returned the jurors to the courthouse to hear opening statements in the trial.
During jury selection, Judge Megan Shanahan promised to keep jurors' identities secret. Shanahan ordered the media not to photograph them, but that's SOP for most news agencies in any trial. However, police could not have prevented residents or anyone else on the street from taking their pictures. The trip from the courthouse was delayed because the tinted windows on the van originally picked to take the jurors wasn't dark enough to hide the jurors' faces from cameras.
Before going to the scene, the judge spoke to the jury in the courtroom and told them not to take notes and not to consider what they saw as evidence.
Judge: The bailiff will draw your attention to specific areas requested by attorneys. This is not evidence, but helps give perspective @WCPO
— Ally Kraemer (@AllyKraemer) November 1, 2016
Shanahan said people taking notes might miss what they're being directed to see, and notes can be unreliable.
"What you see is not evidence," Shanahan said, mentioning that conditions could be different than 16 months ago. "The only purpose of your visit is to help you understand evidence as it will be presented in the courtroom."
SEE WCPO's complete coverage at wcpo.com/TensingTrial
