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Shepard case defender asks jurors to ignore hate crime issue

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Associated Press Murder suspect Aaron McKinney is escorted by Albany County deputies to court in Laramie, Wyo. Monday as jury selection got under way in his death-penalty trial for the beating death of Matthew Shepard. A gay college student, Shepard died a year ago Tuesday after a beating that sparked national outrage.

LARAMIE, Wyo. - The attorney for a man accused of beating Matthew Shepard to death yesterday asked potential jurors not to hold his client accountable for unfavorable media portrayals of their city or the debate over hate-crime legislation.

Aaron McKinney's public defender, Dion Custis, asked for assurances ''that you decide this case based on fact... and not worry about what the public might think or what the nation might think.''

Some media reports depicted Laramie as backward and antigay following last year's attack which left Shepard, a gay college freshman, clinging to life for five days before he died.

''It has made me feel resentful towards the media,'' said one juror, a woman.

''I don't believe what the press has to say anymore,'' said another woman. ''It's been exaggerated so much I don't read it anymore.''

Custis asked if jurors could resist a desire to convict McKinney of first-degree murder in retaliation for the ''black eye'' given Laramie by the media. Most indicated that they could.

About 24 of the 48 candidates needed for the second round of jury selection were chosen from the first pool, said court spokesman Allen Johnson.

Individual questioning of the 44 remaining in the second pool was to take place behind closed doors today. Opening statements are scheduled Oct. 25.

Jurors will be sequestered during the entire four-week trial.

Ten prospects said yesterday that they would have difficulty dealing with graphic photos showing Shepard's head injuries.

''There are going to be ugly pictures, probably the most ugly you've ever seen in your life,'' Custis said.

Prosecutor Cal Rerucha cast doubt on Custis' claim that drug and alcohol use by McKinney was at least partially to blame for the beating death.

''In some ways we've become a nation of excuse makers,'' he said after he joked about taking blame for inadvertently calling witnesses ''jurors.''

Custis said evidence of drug and alcohol use was relevant to the case.

''Whether or not you feel alcohol or drugs may not be an excuse - and we will not offer that as an excuse - it may have an effect, may have a part in what happens in any situation,'' he said.

Custis acknowledged that McKinney was involved in the beating but said his client did not intend to rob or kill Shepard. Custis said the case will hinge on his client's state of mind at the time of the attack and that alcohol and methamphetamine use were factors.

McKinney, 22, is charged with murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping with intent to inflict bodily injury or terrorize the victim.

Prosecutors say McKinney and Russell Henderson, 22, posed as homosexuals and deceived Shepard into leaving a downtown bar and climbing into a truck with them. Shepard was beaten into a coma and died five days later on Oct. 12, 1998.

Police said he was a robbery victim who may have been targeted in part because he was gay.

Henderson pleaded guilty in April to felony murder and kidnapping and received two life sentences.

Custis repeated an earlier statement that the defense would not ''point the finger'' at Henderson but said the jury would be shown that Henderson ''was an integral part'' of the crime.

If convicted, McKinney could face the death penalty.

During a break, McKinney offered a slight smile and a wink at his father seated near the back of the hot, stuffy courtroom.

Attorneys have so far downplayed the gay angle. Nevertheless, Shepard's sexual orientation is likely to become an issue.

One detective has said McKinney used homosexual slurs when referring to Shepard and said he told Shepard before the attack, ''Guess what? We're not gay and you're gonna get jacked. It's Gay Awareness Week.''

Another officer said McKinney's girlfriend told him that the viciousness of the attack was because of his antigay feelings.

In McKinney's only public statement - to a Cheyenne radio station in June - he said Shepard was not targeted because he was gay and said he does not hate homosexuals.