Jury selected in builder's trial

More than 100 could be called to testify against the president of the construction firm.

By John Frank, Times Staff Writer
Published February 12, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Opening statements in the Steven Bartlett trial begin today after jury selection went smoother than anticipated.

Attorneys culled a panel of six jurors and four alternates from a pool of about 50 candidates after six hours Monday.

They hoped to select two more alternates but decided against relaunching the painstaking questioning a second day.

The process was expected to take much longer, and a larger than normal jury pool summoned, because of the complexities of the trial, notably its monthlong duration.

"There were a lot of hardships and, lo and behold, that was a major problem," said Assistant State Attorney Mark Simpson.

Bartlett, 40, faces a single count of grand theft of more than $100,000. If convicted, he could receive up to 30 years in prison.

Prosecutor Philip Hanson will start the morning with an opening statement.

He will paint Bartlett, the president of Coral Bay Construction, as an overzealous builder who stole money from his 100-plus customers in Hernando, Pasco and Citrus counties and spent it on personal excesses.

With the first round of victims expected to testify later in the day, Hanson will try to prove his point with repetition - putting more than 100 witnesses on the stand to describe Bartlett's alleged wrongdoing.

The strategy could work with the panel. One alternate juror reacted strongly after the judge spent 10 minutes reading the long list of victims in the indictment. "I thought, wow," said the woman, a teacher. "I can't say I wasn't influenced...."

Defense attorney Donald Harrison, in his opening, said he won't contend the facts. "The question is what his intentions were," he said outside the courthouse.

The six jurors are five women and one man of varying ages and backgrounds. The alternates are all women.

Senior Circuit Judge William Swigert said he expected an exodus once the jury pool realized the length of the trial, so he tried to impress upon them a sense of civic duty. "There is no higher duty that you can perform right now," he told them.

Still, most were dismissed after thorough questioning by the attorneys.

A number were sent home after they told the court they read about the case in the newspaper and no longer could be objective.

"I'd say guilty," blurted out one potential juror when asked what he knew of the case.

"We decided not to build a house because of cases like this," said a woman who works for an information systems company.

Dozens more were quickly excused for hardship reasons - whether work schedules, medical reasons or nonrefundable travel - when they learned the trial could last four to five weeks.

"I can't believe the time line," one potential juror said. "That's crazy."

For some in the jury pool, the controversy hit close to home.

A few knew Bartlett or his victims, one had a home successfully built by Coral Bay and another said she and her husband considered hiring the company. "It was really scary when we read in the paper what happened," she said.

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 754-6114.

[Last modified February 11, 2008, 22:13:33]