Jury selection starts for Pring-Wilson trial

Tense anticipation filled the air during the early stages of the murder trial of Alexander Pring-Wilson, a Harvard graduate student charged in April 2003 with fatally stabbing a local teen, Michael D. Colono, outside of a local pizza restaurant.

Monday marked the start of jury selection, which is expected to continue through the middle of today until Cambridge Superior Court Justice Regina Quinlan picks 12 jurors and four alternates to render a verdict in the projected month-long trial, which will likely draw media attention from across the country. Court TV plans to televise the entire trial.

The defense is championing a rigorous jury selection, after a failed attempt to move the trial to western Massachusetts for fear of a biased jury in Cambridge.

Nearly all of jury selection was conducted in sidebar, where Quinlin questioned  the potential jurors out of earshot to determine their impartiality to the case.

Questions asked of potential jurors included whether they knew the victim, defendant, witnesses or attorneys in the case and whether they had read or seen coverage of the incidents that would cause them “to prejudge the case.”

Jurors  were also asked whether their opinions of interracial conflict, Harvard, intoxication or knives would interfere with ability to be impartial in this case.

The process of questioning and excusing jurors should wrap up this afternoon, according to a spokesperson for the district attorney.

Jurors and alternates will likely visit the scene of the stabbing—Pizza Ring on Western Avenue—for a “view” this afternoon.

The defense and the prosecution are prepared to make their opening statements next Monday, as the court is closed Thursday and Friday for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.