During the first round of jury selection in the Moe Gibbs murder trial, the judge and attorneys told jurors that filling out a 169-question questionnaire prior to arriving at the courthouse had saved weeks in the jury selection process.

Southeast District Judge John Paulson and the attorneys told jurors that without the lengthy questionnaire, jury selection alone could have lasted several weeks.

Gibbs, 35, a former Barnes County jailer, is accused of killing Mindy Morgenstern, a Valley City State University student from New Salem, in her off-campus Valley City apartment in September 2006. A deadlocked jury in Minot could not reach a verdict in the case at a trial that lasted from June 19 to July 12.

The second trial is being held at the Burleigh County Courthouse. Jury selection in the case is expected to be completed on Monday, followed by opening statements by prosecutors and defense attorneys.

Jeff Bredahl and Dennis Fisher are Gibbs' defense attorneys. The case is being prosecuted by Barnes County State's Attorney Brad Cruff, Barnes County Assistant State's Attorney Lee Grossman and Assistant Attorney General Jon Byers.

The jury selection process consisted of potential jurors being brought into the courtroom and interviewed individually by attorneys. Paulson explained Wednesday to three students from a Bismarck State College court processing class that he preferred to have the jurors interviewed individually to avoid one juror expressing an opinion that could affect the rest of the panel.

"I don't want the remarks of some jurors to influence the others," Paulson told the students. "That's why we're examining them individually."

Paulson took time during a break in jury selections to explain what was going on in the courtroom to the students, who were observing the court proceedings for class.

The judge said that he had declared mistrials early on in past trials because of one juror's comment affecting the opinions of the rest

Because of the questionnaires, attorneys knew enough about the potential jurors to individualize their questions and talk about any areas of concern. For instance, defense attorneys had several potential jurors removed for cause quickly because the jurors had indicated on their questionnaires that they feel Gibbs is guilty due to what they have heard about the case and did not feel they could set those opinions aside.

Others had indicated that serving on the jury would cause financial hardships, so they were dismissed in short order.

Attorneys had interviewed enough people by Thursday afternoon to have 23 men and 24 women still in the running to be potential jurors for the case. Of those 47 people, 38 were selected randomly to come back on Monday.

Remaining in the field of potential jurors are 21 men and 17 women. Two of the men are considered extras in case any of the first 36 people selected cannot serve due to an emergency.

On Monday, potential jurors will be eliminated by defense and prosecuting attorneys, each of whom will be given a certain number of strikes to get rid of jurors. The final jury pool will consist of 14 people. As Paulson explained to the BSC students, two of the jurors will be alternates, but they won't know they aren't part of the panel deciding the case. The judge said the alternates aren't told they are alternates in order to keep them paying attention.

"You might, but you might not"pay attention as an alternate juror, Paulson explained to the students.

With the jury expected to be selected by Monday, attorneys on each side likely will preview their cases by Monday afternoon. After that, the prosecution will start calling witnesses.

The prosecution is expected to call witnesses until Nov. 6. Bredahl said in court Tuesday that the defense has lined up expert witnesses for Nov. 7 and 8. The defense called no witnesses in the first trial. Bredahl and Fisher also indicated during juror examinations that a decision on whether to put Gibbs on the stand has not been made yet.

Byers said Thursday that prosecutors had decided to take Gibbs' sister, Breeze Etienne, off the prosecution's witness list, allowing her to attend Thursday afternoon's jury selection. Gibbs appeared upset Thursday when he could not visit with his sister during court and because of the hours of the trial would miss regular visiting hours at the Burleigh County Detention Center. Paulson said he would try to allow Gibbs visiting time with family.

Byers said prosecutors also are considering removing Gibbs' fiance, Amy Gibbs, from the witness list, but no final decision had been made. Defense attorneys said they were taking Bonnie Ranum and Mark Ranum off their witness list. The Ranums are the mother and brother, respectively, of Morgenstern's boyfriend, Jordan Ranum. Jordan Ranum and his father, Bruce Ranum, testified in the first trial and remain on the witness list.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@bismarcktribune.com.)