TAMPA — After seven days of jury selection in the triple murder trial of Edward Covington, attorneys said they expect to have a jury selected by Wednesday afternoon and could begin opening statements the same day.
The process has been a slow one. It has taken more than six years for Covington's case to go to trial, and selecting the 12 people who will decide his fate will have taken more than a week.
Much of that delay stems from prosecutors' decision to seek the death penalty against Covington, 42, who is accused of killing his girlfriend and her two children in a Lutz mobile home on Mother's Day 2008. Covington's attorneys plan to argue that he was legally insane at the time.
On Tuesday, defense attorneys questioned potential jurors — 80 remain of the original 400 — about how they would respond if shown disturbing photos of the victims' bodies during the trial.
"Just viewing the photos would be very difficult," said one woman, who described herself as "a very emotional person." "I watch the Hallmark Channel, and I say that in all honesty."