Meet the jurors in Whitmer kidnap retrial — most don’t like the news

So far, the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping retrial is shaping up like the last case, if jury selection is any indication.

A jury was seated in one day, just like last time, with the judging handling of most of the questioning.

Most of the chosen folks don’t like the news, or pay much attention to it.

And they said they know very little about the high-profile case involving the state’s chief executive, militias and those groups’ disdain for Whitmer’s handling of the pandemic.

While several said they had heard about the case when it initially surfaced two years ago, they noted they have learned very little, if anything, about it since.

More:Will feds salvage Whitmer kidnap case? ‘The key is jury selection,’ experts say

More:2 Whitmer kidnap plot suspects found not guilty; mistrial declared for other 2

What we know about the second Whitmer kidnap jury

A diverse jury was picked this time, whereas the last jury was all white. The panel of 10 women and eight men includes two Black women and one Hispanic male.

Twelve jurors and six alternates were picked to decide the fates of Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr., who are being retried on charges they orchestrated a plot to kidnap the governor out of anger over her handling of the pandemic. Their first trial in the case ended in a hung jury, with two other defendants acquitted. Two others pleaded guilty early on and will testify in the retrial.

Seventeen of the 18 jurors picked in this sensational case are:

• A chemist who said that he heard about the case in the past, and learned it was in the news again recently, but that “there’s more to the story than what you read.”
• A female factory worker whose daughter-in-law got high with accused ringleader Adam Fox at a boat launch near Whitmer’s cottage. The woman disclosed during jury selection that her daughter-in-law had come into contact with the defendants at a boat launch, and she was questioned by the FBI about the encounter, but she did not remember anything because she was intoxicated. According to testimony from the last trial, Fox smoked pot with this woman on the day he went to scope out Whitmer’s vacation house. Now her mother-in-law is a juror in Fox’s case. She was initially an alternate juror, but replaced a regular juror who was dismissed on Wednesday due to illness. The new juror said that she had heard about the Whitmer case, but that she doesn’t watch the news and “doesn’t have strong political views.” When asked whether if she could be a fair and impartial juror she answered: “I feel like I could.”
• A female accountant who says she doesn’t follow the news much.
• A male underwriter for an insurance company who sort of follows the news.
• A female interior designer who said she has no strong political views and tries not to listen to the news.
• A male retiree who managed a trucking department and now goes fishing with his free time. “The news makes me angry,” he said, later adding: “My wife doesn’t want me watching the news.”
• A Grand Rapids Community College student who also works at Menards as a forklift operator.
• A female factory worker who makes plates for bumpers on F-150 pickup trucks, but said she’s a Chevy person. She doesn’t listen to the news, heard about the kidnapping case when it first happened, but nothing since. “I have no political views,” she said.
• A male freelance graphic designer and illustrator who said he heard of the Whitmer case, but only got “broad strokes.” He said he can be fair.
• A woman who works as an office administrator, doesn’t listen to the news, has a criminal justice degree and has heard about the case. “I respect both sides. I’m not biased,” she said.
• A Grand Rapids woman who works at a gastronenterology office coordinating visits and referrals. She tries to avoid the news and said “I hate politics.” After she cleared the dismissal process, she disclosed that she didn’t like guns or violence, which raised concerns for the defense. But it was too late to excuse her from the case as the defense had already agreed to keep her on. She is an alternate. “I am against guns,” the woman said as the selection process was drawing to close, explaining that her mother’s husband had a psychotic breakdown and tried to kill her and her family. “I’m just against guns and violence.”
• A female retiree who used to work at a plating factory running a hoist. “I just kind of lay around. … I read,” she said. “I don’t really have an opinion on the case. … I don’t really follow politics.” She said that she has strong political views on some things not tied to the case, and that she can be fair.
• A Grand Haven man with no car or driver’s license who said he would need a ride to trial. He said he rarely follows the news and knows little about the case, other than hearing about it when it first happened.
• A male mechanic who works with heavy equipment, including excavators. He follows mostly local news, enjoys hunting and trapping, owns a shotgun and a deer rifle.
• A woman who works as a nutritionist and doesn’t really follow the news, but said that when she does she gets it from Facebook. She said she could be fair. The judge asked her whether she’d like to serve. She said yes.
• A stay-at-home mom who is preparing to go on a “glamping” trip with her two sons.
• This is the juror who was dismissed: A woman who works from home as an IT solution architect and said her husband has the news on constantly. She said she has some impressions about the case but she was willing to listen to the evidence and make an unbiased decision based on that. She said she has strong political views, but she did not disclose them and said she could set them aside and fairly decide the case.

The jurors are identified only by number, and descriptions of the remaining juror couldn’t be discerned from notes.

‘Only two things matter’

At the start of jury selection, Chief US District Judge Robert Jonker told the prospective jurors that the case is “potentially more challenging and potentially more interesting” than other trials, given its high profile.

“The victim is our sitting governor. There has been publicity. There have been earlier proceedings,” Jonker said, without disclosing that there was a previous trial that ended with no convictions.