Jury selection begins for Palmer retrial
By Anne Marie Kyzer Staff Writer

Jury selection began Monday for the retrial of convicted murderer Willie Palmer.

The selection process will likely last through the end of the week, according to District Attorney Danny Craig.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys are interviewing the jury pool in small groups, while they work to ensure that an impartial jury is chosen.

Once selected, the jury will not be sequestered during the trial.

Craig said the state plans to begin presenting evidence Monday, and he expects the trial to last more than a week. When Palmer was convicted for the murders in Washington County in 1997, the trial lasted for nine days.

While Craig said he anticipates calling between 30-35 witnesses to testify, defense attorney Mike Garrett could not estimate how many witnesses he planned to call.

"It will depend on what the state does," Garrett said.

In 1995, Palmer's wife, Brenda Jenkins Palmer, and 15- year-old stepdaughter, Christina Palmer were found murdered in their Vidette home. Deputies found Brenda Palmer's 15- month-old daughter, unharmed but abandoned, next to her sister's corpse. Willie Palmer and his nephew, Frederico Palmer, were convicted for the murders.

Willie Palmer was handed two death sentences, and Frederico Palmer, who testified against his uncle, was sentenced to two life terms in prison.

However, the Georgia Supreme Court granted Willie Palmer a retrial in 2005 because the state paid a witness to testify without notifying defense attorneys during the trial.