LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – Prosecutors are preparing for jury selection in the trial of Casey White and they have released a questionnaire for potential jurors.
White is facing separate murder charges in connection to the deaths of Connie Ridgeway in 2015 and Vicky White in 2022.
The first case to be tried will be the murder of Vicky White, which is currently set for mid-April, nearly a year after Vicky helped Casey escape from the Lauderdale Detention Center.
Vicky White was a decorated corrections administrator at the jail in Lauderdale County. Casey White was in that jail because he’d confessed to killing Connie Ridgeway in 2015 and was set to go on trial for that murder in June of 2022.
The case gained national attention after the pair escaped, and a manhunt ensued until they were caught 11 days later in Indiana.
Casey’s defense has told the court it needs several more months to be ready for trial in Vicky White’s death, but the prosecution is moving forward.
He is charged with murder for Vicky White’s death — on the grounds that she died while he engaged in the crime of escaping from jail.
On Jan 27, the prosecution filed a questionnaire for potential jurors. Detailed jury questionnaires are common in high-profile and death penalty cases.
The jury questionnaire covers biographical information, attitudes about law enforcement and publicity around the White case. The questionnaire explains that the purpose of this process is to “help determine your qualifications to sit as a juror in this criminal case.”
Some of the sample questions included are:
- Have you heard about this case?
- Have you watched, read about, talked or overheard discussions about the case?
- Do you agree ‘better that 10 guilty men go free, than one innocent man be convicted?’
There is a status hearing set for February 16th, where the defense is expected to argue the case should be continued.
