Tuesday, April 18, 2000 | 9:08 a.m.
VIRGINIA CITY, Nev. - Emotions are running so high among prospective jurors that a judge said he could decide as early as today to move the notorious case of a wild horse shooting out of tiny Storey County.
First District Judge Michael Griffin repeated his concerns Monday that national publicity of the slaughter of more than two dozen wild horses might make it impossible to seat an impartial jury for the trial of three young men now accused of killing only a single mustang.
He also warned the prospective jurors that he had received piles of negative mail from across the country since he dismissed most of the earlier charges against the three defendants, and that any jury that eventually voted to acquit them could expect the same.
"I guarantee you if you decide the defendants are not guilty based on the evidence, there's going to be howls nationally. Is anybody afraid of that kind of pressure?" the judge asked. No one said they were.
The discovery of 33 horse carcasses shot to death with high-powered rifles in the hills just of Reno drew outrage across the country in December 1998 and led to two of the suspects' discharge from the Marines.
During four hours of jury selection on Monday, Griffin excused more than half of the 45 prospective jurors he questioned - at least a dozen of those indicating they'd already decided the three defendants are guilty.
"I will tell you straight out, I have my mind made up without listening to anybody," one man called to jury duty told the judge.
"I'd like to put them out in a field and take pot shots at them," another woman said.
Griffin told the prospective jurors to return to the Storey County courthouse to resume questioning at 9:30 a.m. today. But he acknowledged he was facing an uphill battle in seating an impartial jury in the county with a population of only 3,700.
"I'm concerned because there's talk all over the town and the county," Griffin said.
"Everybody here has heard about the case and almost all of them are familiar with wild horses and have a strong opinion about wild horses," he said.
"There reaches an intellectual point where it may not be fair to try this case in this county."
Lawyers for the two ex-Marines and their former high school buddy earlier requested a change of venue, citing the national media attention to the killing of the horses in the days after Christmas 1998.
"This is too much to ask of this small community," said John Ohlson, a lawyer for former Lance Crpl. Scott Brendle.
It's unclear where the judge would send the case if he agrees to the change of venue. Washoe County District Court is about 40 miles away in Reno.
Brendle, former Lance Crpl. Darien Brock and Anthony Merlino, a Reno construction worker, face a single gross misdemeanor for the killing of a horse.
They were charged in the deaths of at least 28 horses after their arrest in January 1999. But last month Griffin dismissed all but one of the charges, citing a lack of evidence. The last gross misdemeanor charge carries a penalty of up to one year in the county jail and a $2,500 fine.
In response to his questions on Monday, several prospective jurors told the judge him they were aware of - and disagreed with - his decision to dismiss the charges.
Only two people among the 70 potential jurors called Monday raised their hands when the judge asked if they had heard nothing about the case.
"I've tried murder cases with a lot of publicity. But I have never been involved in a case where everybody on the jury panel knew about it," Griffin said.
"I'll tell you very frankly I don't want this case to go anywhere else because it belongs in Storey County. This is Storey County's business. But it may not be able to be tried in Storey County," he said.
Sharon Claassen, Storey County deputy district attorney, said the prosecution was holding out hope the case still could be tried in Virginia City. But even she admitted late Monday it was "looking iffy."
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