Jury picked for retrial of Bradenton man charged with killing pregnant woman in home invasion

MANATEE -- A jury of nine men and five women was selected Monday in the retrial of a 34-year-old man charged in the 2009 fatal shooting of a pregnant woman.

One man and one woman, of the 14 chosen, are alternate jurors. The final number was whittled down early Monday evening from about 70 potential jurors.

Everrick Houston, 34, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and armed robbery in the shooting that killed Crystal Johnson and her baby.

Manatee Circuit Judge Deno Economou late Monday morning addressed the potential jurors before the questioning began.

"If you become a juror in this case, anything you may have read, anything you may have heard about this case, you must completely put aside," Economou said. "You cannot, you cannot have that influence your decision in this case."

Economou said the law requires jurors to base their verdict solely on the evidence that is heard from witnesses.

"We are looking for a juror who could be fair and impartial to both sides," he added. "It's quite simple -- that's truly what your function as a juror is."

Dressed in a grey shirt and black tie, Houston occasionally jotted down notes while Assistant State Attorney Art Brown questioned

the pool.

"Felony murder is a murder that occurs in the course of a felony like robbery ... drug trafficking, aircraft piracy," Brown told the jury pool.

The assistant state attorney questioned the jury pool at length about their encounters with law enforcement, as well as whether anyone had been arrested or had a personal relationship with anyone in law enforcement -- all to try to determine whether potential jurors would be able to be fair and impartial in this case.

One man seated in the front row told Brown his uncle is retired from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

"Would you favor law enforcement officers as a result of that relationship?" Brown asked the man.

"Probably," he responded.

More than a dozen people raised their hands when asked if they know someone who has been incarcerated.

Court-appointed defense attorney Jenna Finkelstein spent the afternoon asking the jury pool about hardships that would prevent them from serving.

She later brought up what it means to have a hung jury. This week's retrial comes after a judge in November 2014 declared a mistrial in Houston's first trial after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict.

Finkelstein asked one man what he would do if he didn't agree with 11 others on what the verdict should be. He responded that he would stick to his own answer.

"Do you think that you can stick to your guns?" she asked. "Do you know what happens at that time, if you stick to your guns and say, 'I'm voting this way,' and the other 11 say, 'We're voting that way'?"

Finkelstein spoke more about the event of a mistrial.

"You don't have to bend on what you think is right in a case," she assured the potential jurors. "If you can't reach a verdict, then you can't reach a verdict."

Gregory "Kush" Kennon, of Bradenton, was convicted of identical charges in 2012 and is serving a life sentence in a Florida prison.

The trial resumes at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Amaris Castillo, law enforcement/island reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7051. Follow her on Twitter @AmarisCastillo.

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 11:07 PM with the headline "Jury picked for retrial of Bradenton man charged with killing pregnant woman in home invasion ."