The 22-year-old has been charged with multiple counts of murder and kidnapping and could face the death penalty if convicted
Rescue workers who pulled a 3-year-old boy from the floor of a burning building last year during the frenzy surrounding a planned kidnapping case won the heart of jurors who have now been selected to hear the case.
Fourteen people were selected Tuesday in Cleveland’s first attempted murder trial in two decades that it may be difficult to find a jury for the case of Kim Kardashian West’s sister.
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Relatives of Kim Kardashian West’s kidnapping victim were among the dozen women and six men – all white, 21 to 37 years old and a majority of them mothers – interviewed at the Cuyahoga County court house in downtown Cleveland. Two more women and three men were chosen later.
That’s on top of the 16 selected for the case in a county court in nearby University Heights.
Several of those questioned expressed dismay they could not possibly be impartial in the case of Kim Kardashian West’s sister, Kimberly Hunt.
“I thought this would be a no-brainer,” said one prospective juror, Debra Sestak. “No kidnapping without kidnapping?”
A lawyer for Hunt, who is awaiting trial, said this year’s case could be the most publicized since the OJ Simpson murder trial more than two decades ago.
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Kim Kardashian West has not been named in court, but has been referred to as Kim Kardashian West since the case began.
Kardashian West’s daughter, North, will likely be interviewed during a pre-trial interview as well.
Kardashian West was being held in the home of an Ohio man, her former boyfriend and her newborn nephew in suburban Cleveland when it was targeted by a kidnapper. Police say she was held against her will in the weeks after her daughter was born in June.
Kim Kardashian West is the older sister of the US reality television stars who have a wildly popular show about their lives.
Kim Kardashian West appears as a guest star on a episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians featuring Paris Jackson. Photograph: Jacques Brinon/AP
Prosecutors on Tuesday set a January start date for the trial, after completing their first phase of jury selection. At least 28 people have to be picked.