Jury selection in third Mynisha trial begins Tuesday
A third criminal trial in connection with the 2005 shooting death of 11-year-old Mynisha Crenshaw got underway Monday with pretrial motions in Victorville Superior Court, according to prosecutors.
Lawyers for Michael Barnett Jr. and Sinque Morrison, as well as Deputy District Attorney Ron Webster spent the day arguing various motions before the court about what could and could not be presented during the trial.
Panels of prospective jurors are scheduled to appear Tuesday in the courtroom of Judge John Tomberlin for jury selection, lawyers confirmed. Opening statements, which usually kick off the testimony phase of the trial, have not yet been scheduled.
Morrison and Barnett are the last two, of 12 total defendants charged in the case, who are awaiting resolutions. This will be the second trial for Barnett and the third for Morrison.
San Bernardino Police say the defendants were part of a group of armed gang members who went to an apartment complex near Mountain Avenue and Citrus Street in search of rival gang members on Nov. 13, 2005.
Some of the men fired weapons into an apartment where Mynisha and her family were having dinner. Mynisha died after being struck once in the chest, while her older sister was seriously wounded in the arm. The girls were unintended victims.
Barnett and Morrison were among a group of four defendants who received a mistrial in fall 2006, when a jury deadlocked on most of the charges against them in West Valley Superior Court, in Rancho Cucamonga.
Morrison also started a trial with two other co-defendants earlier this year. But Morrison received a second mistrial when a law enforcement witness inadvertantly testified about Morrison's parole status before the jury, in violation of a judicial order.
In addition to Barnett and Morrison, two defendants have been sentenced to state prison after receiving jury convictions and eight others have taken plea bargains in the case.
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