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Jessica's story inches ahead

Protocol prevails on the second anniversary of her disappearance.

By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published February 24, 2007

MIAMI - Courtroom 4-1 is cold and quiet.

One by one, potential jurors file in. They answer questions. Some stay and some go.

Two years ago, Jessica Marie Lunsford's disappearance drew a community together. And news of her murder tore it apart.

Strangers wept. Tempers flared.

But Jessica's story has not yet been told within this courtroom's wood-paneled walls.

Court officials are trying to find fair jurors. Now is the time for protocol and order.

A clerk reads a two-page indictment, her voice rising and falling in a soft Southern lilt. The accused. The place. The dates.

John Evander Couey, in the County of Citrus and the State of Florida, between the 23rd day of February and the 7th day of March, inclusive, in the year of Our Lord, two-thousand five...

And then, the charges: Murder and burglary. Kidnapping and sexual battery.

Three rows of potential jurors stare intently ahead. Some of them cross their arms. One man - bearded and burly - rubs his eyes.

But tears are not a frequent sight.

The hours that follow are filled with everyday details of daily lives.

A music teacher mentions her upcoming wedding.

A benefits administrator wonders who will fill in if she leaves her office for the trial.

An engineering student worries about missing class.

On Friday, no one in court noted that it was the two-year anniversary of the last day Jessica's family members saw her alive.

Some jurors said they had never heard of the case.

A few recognized names but not faces.

Others described vague memories of her disappearance.

"I recall seeing it on the TV, but that was some time ago, not recently," Juror No. 2312 said.

"You're trying to think of something two years ago. And it's a little vague," Assistant Public Defender Daniel Lewan replied. "It's a little fuzzy."

But for Mark Lunsford - the man who spoke out after his daughter's voice was silenced - it's the future that's fuzzy, not the past.

He is hundreds of miles away from this big-city courtroom, still seeking justice.

Today he will participate in a memorial motorcycle ride from New Port Richey to Homosassa in Jessica's honor. Once the state begins presenting its case against Couey, Mark Lunsford will be in Miami, watching when he can.

"I expect to get a lot of answers. I don't know," he said in a recent interview. "I have never really understood closure. What is it, and just when does it happen?"

And justice, too, is uncertain.

"It's multicolored, it has a lot of shapes and sizes, and we never know which way it's going to go," he said. "We never know."

Times staff writer John Frank contributed to this story. Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at cshoichet@sptimes.com or 860-7309.

IF YOU GO

Ride for Jessica

Participants can register for Jessie's Third Annual Memorial Ride from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. today at Gulf Coast Harley-Davidson, 5817 State Road 54, New Port Richey.

The police-escorted ride starts at 11 a.m. and finishes at Harley-Davidson of Crystal River, 1785 S Suncoast Blvd., Homosassa.

[Last modified February 23, 2007, 21:06:45]