Bakersfield, CA - Jury selection for the Taft High School Shooting case began with high drama Monday afternoon after an outburst from the very first interviewee.
A potential juror stood in the courtroom shouting profanities at Bryan Oliver, the teenager accused of shooting a Taft Union High School student in January 2013. The woman said her son was in the classroom when the shooting took place. "You stupid …. S-O-B," she shouted. Only she used the full expletive while she was screaming. She continued with saying, "You made my life a living hell! You don't know what you did to my son!."
She was immediately escorted from the courtroom and excused from the jury. She was the first of many prospective jurors to be questioned for the expected six-week trial.
Oliver is accused of two counts of attempted murder and three counts of assault with a firearm. However, in pretrial proceedings his attorney said evidence will prove Oliver is a victim himself, of long-term bullying.
Monday's jury selection came after Taft Union High School released a document last week claiming Oliver had been "tea-bagged" by bullies during his freshman year. Tea-bagging was described as a hazing ritual in which bullies drag their genitals across the face of their victims.
Judge John Lua issued a strict gag order Monday morning, restricting the media from speaking to anyone involved in the trial. This gag order also forbids any cameras or recording devices in the courtroom. Judge Lua ordered the prospective jurors to be questioned in private with lengthy questionnaires, but the outburst came before that could begin.
A potential juror stood in the courtroom shouting profanities at Bryan Oliver, the teenager accused of shooting a Taft Union High School student in January 2013. The woman said her son was in the classroom when the shooting took place. "You stupid …. S-O-B," she shouted. Only she used the full expletive while she was screaming. She continued with saying, "You made my life a living hell! You don't know what you did to my son!."
She was immediately escorted from the courtroom and excused from the jury. She was the first of many prospective jurors to be questioned for the expected six-week trial.
Oliver is accused of two counts of attempted murder and three counts of assault with a firearm. However, in pretrial proceedings his attorney said evidence will prove Oliver is a victim himself, of long-term bullying.
Monday's jury selection came after Taft Union High School released a document last week claiming Oliver had been "tea-bagged" by bullies during his freshman year. Tea-bagging was described as a hazing ritual in which bullies drag their genitals across the face of their victims.
Judge John Lua issued a strict gag order Monday morning, restricting the media from speaking to anyone involved in the trial. This gag order also forbids any cameras or recording devices in the courtroom. Judge Lua ordered the prospective jurors to be questioned in private with lengthy questionnaires, but the outburst came before that could begin.