Detroit: Potential jurors will return to a
Detroit courtroom for final jury selection in the trial of a
Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a plane with a bomb
in his underwear.
Thirty-two women and 15 men make up the final pool of
prospective jurors. Trial is set to begin next week for Umar
Farouk Abdulmutallab. Prosecutors say he tried to bring down
an Amsterdam-to-Detroit plane on Christmas Day 2009.
Abdulmutallab is acting as his own lawyer, with
assistance from a court-appointed standby attorney.
The attorney asked in a court filing late yesterday
that the defense be granted more than its 10 allotted
challenges when jury selection resumes today. The challenges
allow the removal of a prospective juror without any publicly
stated reason.
Bureau Report
