Jimmy Rodgers trial: Jury selection continues: Day 2

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Jimmy Rodgers in the courtroom.

The trial is underway for one of three suspects in the death of Bonita Springs holistic doctor Teresa Sievers, 46.

Jimmy Ray Rodgers, 29, is the first suspect to stand trial and accused bludgeoning Teresa to death with a hammer.

Teresa’s husband, Mark Sievers, 51, is accused of orchestrating her murder. Both Sievers and Rodgers are charged with first-degree murder.

The third suspect, Curtis Wayne Wright Jr., pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2016 and is expected to be sentenced in December.

Rodgers’ trial is set to last five weeks. Jury selection began Tuesday and is expected to continue throughout this week.


DAY 2 UPDATES

5:25 p.m.

Jury selection is done for the day. Out of nearly 200 people, about 60 potential jurors are coming back on Thursday for additional questioning.

3:40 p.m.

About 20 more potential jurors were just sent home for financial or length of trial reasons.

2:05 p.m.

The lunch break has ended. Now, they are bringing in another pool of jurors, comprised of 46 people.

1:00 p.m.

Out of the 150 potential jurors they’ve already talked to, only about 50 have been asked to come back tomorrow morning.

Court breaks for lunch.

11:12 a.m.

Jury selection is guaranteed to roll into Thursday, day 3. Judge Kyle just sent about 10 potential jurors home, told to report back tomorrow morning at 8:30.

11:00 a.m.

After the first round of questions for this morning’s group regarding financial hardships and length of the trial, HALF of the 52 potential jurors were sent home. Moving on now to questions about Teresa Sievers and her murder.

Here’s a big question for potential jurors: “Have you heard of the Teresa Sievers murder trial?” Right now, 15 people out of the 26 left raised their hand.

10:00 a.m.

Off the bat, 28 of the 52 people in the room raised their hand, saying they would have an issue with the potential 5-week length of the trial.

Judge Kyle is now reading instructions. The judge is hoping to get a pool of 60 potential jurors from Tuesday’s two groups and this morning’s group(s).

First questions will focus on financial hardships and length of trial, then will move on to questions about Jimmy Rodgers, Mark #Sievers, and Teresa Sievers.

9:43 a.m. 

Court is back in session. The new juror pool consisting of 52 people is undergoing questioning.

9:07 a.m. 

Court is in recess.

The third pool of jurors is heading to the courtroom for questioning.

8:50 a.m.

Jimmy Rodgers is back in the courtroom.

The Defense says there is a new issue. The defense says Lee County detectives interviewed a man about the Rodgers’ and Sievers’ case last year and that they didn’t know about it until last night. The detective is in the courtroom.

The State says they are not planning on calling this man that was interviewed a year ago, so it should not be an issue. Both the

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Wednesday begins the second day of jury selection in the highly anticipated trial for the murder of Bonita Springs Doctor, Teresa Sievers.

As the second day of the trial gets underway at 8:30 a.m., 30 potential jurors will return to the courtroom after being selected yesterday.

50 other potential jurors will also be screened on Wednesday.

Day 1 of the trial began with accused hit-man Jimmy Rodgers rejecting a plea deal offered to him by the state.

MORE: Jimmy Rodgers Trial: Jury selection underway: Day 1

Next came jury selection where almost 60 people were excused for things like work obligations.

The judge also made it clear that Mark Sievers, Teresa’s husband, and his legal team need to be ready to begin their trial if the Rodgers trial ends sooner than expected.

Some of the potential jurors returning Wednesday will have to make sure they can free their schedules for 5 weeks, if the trial does last that long.

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