Sioux City, IA - A man accused of a double homicide has asked for a mistrial from the state today. This by itself is not unusual, but the reasoning behind the request is. He received a summons from the court for jury duty. Jury duty for his own trial.
William Bradford, 42, from Sioux City, is accused of killing his wife and daughter during a drunken rage at a family Christmas party in 2010. Police claim that Bradford’s wife, Cathy, was nagging Bradford about not making as much money as his brother. After a heated argument, Bradford allegedly grabbed a double barrel shotgun and fired three shots inside his home. One killing his wife Cathy, another two hitting his daughter, Katrina.
Harold Wright, Bradford’s attorney, told reporters outside the courthouse, “Mr. Bradford believes that he cannot receive a fair trial in this state. He sites the courts inability to filter his name from the list of potential jurors as part of the rationale behind the incompetency of the legal system in Iowa. Mr. Bradford maintains his innocence on all charges.”
The Clerk of Court’s office stated that it was a standard problem with the compute system. In a written statement, they claim that these errors happen when the address on file with the police department are different than the addresses on file with the DMV. Many people have the same name, meaning filtering would remove all potential jurors with the same or similar names.
Legal analysts see this as a ploy by Bradford to avoid a trial, one that will delay the date while the motion is considered, but not one that will dismiss the trial entirely.
Annabel Lee is a freelance journalist for the Baltimore Fake Times Journal. She has the theme to the 1970s television program “Wonder Woman” stuck in her head.
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