Jury selected in child video sex case

By Cara McCoy

Published Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009 | 10:21 p.m.

Updated Friday, Feb. 20, 2009 | 6:17 p.m.

Opening arguments are scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of accused child rapist Chester A. Stiles, who was arrested after the release of images from a graphic videotape of an alleged sexual assault of a 3-year-old girl.

Friday afternoon, a jury of 10 men and five women -- 12 jurors and three alternates -- was selected from a pool of 35 prospective jurors. From the jury pool, both sides eliminated nine potential jurors and one possible alternate -- 10 each -- leaving the select pool of 15. Of those seated, the jurors have not been informed who is an alternate.

District Court Judge Jennifer P. Togliatti said opening arguments would begin Monday.

Stiles has pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of sexual assault with a minor under 14, 10 counts of lewdness with a child under 14 and one count of attempted sexual assault with a minor under 14. In addition to the child in the tape, he also is charged with assaulting another girl who was 6 years old at the time of the alleged assault in 2003.

Stiles was arrested in 2007 after a nationwide manhunt.

While questioning potential jurors, attorneys on both sides honed in on media attention the videotape had garnered. Jurors were asked to respond to a 29-question survey to gauge their objectivity.

Since Tuesday, more than 200 jurors have gone through the selection process.

“As for the infamous question No. 26: Can you remain impartial in this case?” Deputy District Attorney James Sweetin asked potential juror after potential juror.

“It’s going to be tough for me, but I will do my best,” said one potential juror who was eventually excluded. Another pool of 50 is on deck to go through the screening process Friday.

On Thursday, Stiles, dressed in a dusty brown suit, busied himself taking notes on a legal pad. He rarely looked at the 24 potential jurors sitting to his right, occasionally whispering to his attorneys, public defenders Stacey Roundtree and Amy Coffee.

With his hair slicked back, his look has changed since his initial court appearance in 2007. He was arrested on Oct. 17, 2007, in Henderson during a routine traffic stop.

According to information released after the arrest, Henderson Police Officer Mike Dye pulled over a white Buick Century with no plates near the intersection of Green Valley Parkway and Sunset Road. The driver pulled into a parking lot and handed the officer a California driver’s license.

Police said the photo on the license looked nothing like the driver. Dye and another officer questioned the man, and he ultimately revealed his name.

Stiles had been on the run since Nye County sheriff's deputies released images from a videotape of man having sex with a child, which was found in a desert area near Pahrump. The man who discovered the tape, 26-year-old Darren Tuck, told authorities he found it wrapped in a plastic bag beneath a piece of wood in a desert lot about five months before he turned it in.

Because investigators weren’t able to identify the man or the child in the videotape, they took the unusual step of releasing the images – including an image of the victim – to the public. A Las Vegas woman recognized the girl and alerted the girl’s mother, who then contacted police.

Clark County Courts spokesman Michael Sommermeyer said images on the tape indicate the incident took place in a bedroom in Las Vegas.

Authorities aren’t planning to call the girl on the videotape to testify. The girl, who is now 8 years old, has no memory of the assault.