NORTHAMPTON — The judge and attorneys will continue their efforts Monday to seat a full jury for the Cara Rintala murder retrial after wrapping up Friday three short of the full complement of 16.
Hampshire Superior Court Judge Francis Flannery informed the 13 jurors chosen over three days to return to court Monday at noon in the hope that the lengthy process of selecting 12 jury members and four alternates would be complete by then.
“My expectation is that, at best, we will select a jury and get through opening statements by the end of the day Monday,” Flannery told the attorneys and the defendant at the end of Friday’s proceedings. “I wouldn’t expect any evidence.”
Rintala is accused of killing her wife, Annamarie Cochrane Rintala, at their Granby home in March 2010. Jurors at her first two trials, in 2013 and 2014, were unable to reach a verdict. Rintala was convicted at her third trial, in 2016, and spent several years in prison before the Supreme Judicial Court overturned the verdict, citing concerns about the prosecution’s paint expert’s credentials, and ordered a retrial.
The fact that many people have heard at least something about the case over the past 13 years, and may have formed an opinion on it, complicates the process of selecting a jury, Northwestern Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Suhl said.
The judge and attorneys have interviewed several dozen potential jurors over the past three days. Suhl and First Assistant District Attorney Steve Gagne are prosecuting the case. Rintala is represented by Boston lawyers Rosemary Scapicchio and Chauncey Wood.
The trial is scheduled for five days next week, but appears likely to last longer.