Day 2 of jury selection ends in Ibraheem Yazeed’s capital murder trial

TUSKEGEE, Ala. (WSFA) - Jury selection in the murder trial of Ibraheem Yazeed, who is accused of killing Aniah Blanchard in 2019, continued Tuesday at the Tuskegee Municipal Complex.

Selection picked up where it left off Monday. The judge, defense, and prosecution continued to question potential jurors who had heard about the case before and, if so, whether they could disregard any previous knowledge to make a decision based solely on the evidence presented in court.

Yazeed arrived at the complex on both Monday and Tuesday, appearing to not be restrained with shackles or handcuffs. Macon County Sheriff Andre Brunson said Yazeed is wearing a restraint, although it may not be immediately visible.

“As you can see, he comes in in regular clothes with no handcuffs, but he does have leg restraints on,” the sheriff explained. “These leg restraints go all the way from his hip all the way down to his ankles. If you see him walk in, you’ll know he has those leg restraints on, but what you don’t see is all the other deputies standing around to make sure he doesn’t go anywhere, along with myself. He wouldn’t get away from me, but we have a lot of security around here and we wouldn’t play with the security of the people here in Macon County.”

Yazeed’s father, along with many of Blanchard’s family members were in attendance for the second day of jury selection. The families sat on opposite sides of the courtroom.

During the afternoon session, the defense and prosecution directly questioned possible jurors for more than an hour each.

Some of the questions prosecutors asked included:

• Does anyone have an analytical job, and if so, have you been told that you over-analyze?
• Does anyone feel that they could not convict someone?
• Do you have any experiences that would lead you to discredit law enforcement testimony?
• Can you convict based upon circumstantial evidence?

Some of the questions the defense asked included:

• Has anyone ever worked with law enforcement, or had a close friend or family member that did?
• Do you have an issue with viewing difficult photographs?
• Do you agree that the defendant, Ibraheem Yazeed, has no burden of proof?
• Who has heard of Aniah’s Law, and if so, do you know why the law came into effect?

Yazeed was mostly emotionless in the complex Tuesday, staring off into the distance or giving a quick glance to potential jurors.

Blanchard, a 19-year-old Homewood native, was allegedly kidnapped from a gas station in Auburn in October 2019. Her body was found the next month in the woods in Macon County.

The victim’s hometown chose to illuminate its city hall in blue in Blanchard’s honor.

Around 25 jurors have been dismissed after two days, bringing the number of remaining jurors to an estimated 75-80.

Jurors return Wednesday to the Tuskegee Municipal Complex at 9 a.m. at which point they are set to be split into panels for further questioning.

The jury selection process is expected to take about a week.

Once the jury selection process is complete, the remainder of the trial is estimated to take at least two weeks.

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