MARIETTA, Ga. (CN) - Attorneys for a Georgia teen charged with murdering a baby filed a motion to reconsider Monday, the first day of jury selection, claiming that "not one member" of the panel of 48 reflects a jury of the defendant's peers: there were no black men among the 48 potential jurors.
"We are looking at a situation of an all-white jury for a black man who killed a white child," said Glynn County Public Defender Kevin Gough.
De'Marquise Elkins, 17, is charged with felony murder: shooting a year-old baby in the face and killing him in his stroller after the boy's mother, Sherry West, told Elkins she didn't have the money he demanded. Her son Antonio was 13 months old.
Elkins' mother, Karimah Elkins, is being tried with her son. She is charged with giving police false information and helping to dispose of the murder weapon -- a .22 caliber pistol. Both are African-American.
Because of pre-trial publicity concerning the March murder, the trial was moved 325 miles from Brunswick, Ga., to Cobb County Superior Court, with Glynn County Superior Court Judge Steven Kelley presiding.
When Elkins and his mother were brought into the courtroom, both sat at the defense attorneys' table and stoically stared straight ahead, while Judge Kelley quickly ushered in the jury panels.
Four panels of 12 men and women -- 48 potential jurors -- were led into the courtroom, filling the jury box and several benches in Cobb's "Ceremonial Courtroom" gallery.
Only four potential jurors of the original pool of 48 were African-American, all of them women.
Of the original 48, 28 were women and 20 were men.
There were Hispanic women, one Hispanic male and one Asian woman. The rest of the jury pool is Caucasian.
In pleading the motion before Judge Kelley, in the first few minutes of questioning of each panel, Gough asked: "Statistically, what are the odds of not having one black male out of 48 people on a jury? At the same time, your honor did indicate that we could call the clerk of the court."
Gough continued: "It is my understanding from the court administrator that the jurors that are late for jury duty, go to the bottom of the juror list. They receive the bottom numbers. We believe that has an impact of the African-Americans on the panel.
"There are 15 African men and 14 African-American women in the jury pool downstairs of 117. We want the jurors that are down there, up here, first. It seems only fair. It's a good lesson for them to be on time, and they have to be here first. It does have an impact on the number of African-Americans."
Judge Kelley responded: "The law is clear that the jury is selected form the whole population. Random means random, in this case there is no other case but randomness.
"If you have evidence from a jury administrator that they systematically took people off before they made this list, I would be happy to hear this."
Special prosecutor Andrew Ekonomou vehemently objected, asking the judge: "On what basis was this filed? Supposition? Speculation as to whether Georgia may have been weighted against blacks? What is the good-faith basis for this claim? Is this based on investigation or deposition? I am entitled to know that."