By Andy Van De Voorde
The voir dire jury selection process got under way Thursday at Superior Court in the “predatory pricing” lawsuit filed against the Weekly by the Bay Guardian. In a courtroom overflowing with prospective jurors, Judge Marla J. Miller and attorneys for both sides interviewed approximately twenty possible panelists, but none were chosen before the end of the day.
Members of the jury pool called to testify included a man who said he had been kidnapped twice as a child in India, where his father worked as a journalist. Also called into the box were a longtime sculpture professor, a public-transit operator, an architect who specializes in building stadiums and arenas, an accountant for Chevron, and a woman who told Miller she makes and sells her own meditation CDs while studying for a master's degree.
When informed of the rough factual outline of the case — one newspaper accusing another of selling its ads too cheaply — one man, who owns his own business laying foundations, loudly told Miller, “If one man wants to sell his paper for less money, I believe he should be allowed to do so.” (Read more after the jump)
