Murder trial jurors selected

By RALPH BARTHOLDT

Staff Writer

After more than a week of filtering candidates, the final juror was chosen Wednesday to preside over the murder trial of Jonathan Renfro.

Attorneys narrowed the field in the morning, before settling on the finalists for the upcoming trial set to begin Monday in Coeur d’Alene’s First District Court.

Renfro is accused in the 2015 shooting death of Sgt. Greg Moore.

Jury selection began more than a week ago when 80 of the more than 900 jurors who responded to a jury duty questionnaire appeared on the third floor of the old courthouse in Coeur d’Alene to begin the weaning process.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh and lead defense counsel Keith Roark asked pointed questions of potential jurors as they whittled the number of candidates to a group of 44, and then to 16, which includes four alternates.

The trial, which begins at 8:30 a.m., could last a month.

Jurors who made the final cut will participate in two phases of the upcoming trial including the guilt phase, to determine if the 29-year-old Rathdrum man is responsible for Moore’s death.

If Renfro is found guilty, jurors must also decide whether the death penalty applies.

Many candidates were released from duty based on their answers to questions regarding their views of the death penalty.

Other questions revolved around candidates’ familiarity with the case, and whether they could follow District Judge Lansing Haynes’ instructions to limit their decisions based solely on court testimony.

Renfro is accused of shooting Moore with a Glock pistol he had in his pocket when Moore confronted him after dark in May in a Coeur d’Alene neighborhood where residents had reported burglaries and vandalism.