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XEROX SHOOTINGS
Uyesugi jury
selection starting
Over 400 potential jurors
By Suzanne Tswei
are being interviewed
Star-BulletinCircuit Judge Marie Milks this morning began calling in hundreds of Oahu residents to be screened as jurors in the murder trial of Byran Uyesugi, who is charged with killing seven Xerox Corp. co-workers in the state's worst mass murder.
Potential jurors filled out a 15-item questionnaire drawn up especially for the trial, asking them if they could serve as "fair and impartial" jurors in the case. Milks called in 80 people at a time to give them instructions, and then brought them into the courtroom individually to ask about particular answers on the questionnaire.
More than 400 Oahu residents have been summoned to Circuit Court this week for jury selection in Uyesugi's trial.
Uyesugi, 40, a copying machine repairman, is charged with first-degree murder (murdering more than one person), seven counts of second-degree murder and one count of second-degree attempted murder.
Prosecutors said he gunned down seven co-workers with a semiautomatic handgun and fired at an eighth man at the Xerox building on Nimitz Highway on Nov. 2.
Prosecutors said Uyesugi intended to kill his victims, but his attorneys are asking that he be acquitted by reason of insanity. Trial is scheduled to begin May 15.
News reporters and camera operators were barred from jury selection this morning. Judiciary spokeswoman Marsha Kitagawa said they were kept out because of limited space in the courtroom.
Xerox killings
