jmccann@heraldsun.com; 419-6601
DURHAM -- The closure some of Denita Monique Smith's college family looked forward to last year may arrive by the end of the month.
Jury selection started Monday in Shannon Elizabeth Crawley's first-degree murder trial. Assistant District Attorney David Saacks will argue Crawley shot and killed Smith on Jan. 4, 2007 at the Campus Crossings apartments on East Cornwallis Road.
The trial was supposed to start last year but was postponed due to scheduling conflicts with two of the state's witnesses.
Smith was 25 and quite popular at N.C. Central University, where she was a graduate student, and snapped pictures and wrote stories for The Campus Echo, the school's newspaper.
The victim also was engaged to Greensboro Police Officer Jermeir Jackson-Stroud, who had been in an intimate relationship with Crawley, presiding Superior Court Judge Ronald Stephens told potential jurors.
Saacks in the past pointed to the love triangle as the motive for the murder.
Crawley, 30, appeared in court with her hair neatly styled and pulled back from her forehead with a headband. Wearing a light pink turtleneck sweater, Crawley stood and humbly acknowledged the audience when the judge asked her to do so while he was explaining the case to potential jurors.
Before those potential jurors were brought into the courtroom, Durham Police investigators Shawn Pate and Delois West testified about going to Crawley's workplace to talk with her about the murder.
The defendant was a 911 worker in Guilford County.
Crawley was told she was not under arrest, according to West, who said she proceeded to ask Crawley whether she harmed Smith. Crawley got emotional when saying she didn't hurt the victim, West said.
Defense lawyer C. Scott Holmes asked West what she meant by saying his client was emotional. Was Crawley angry?, Holmes wanted to know. Was she sad?, he asked.
Crawley was sad, West said.
Holmes wants the judge to suppress Crawley's conversation with the Durham police officers. The investigators never informed his client of her right to remain silent and didn't tell her what she was telling them could be used against her, her lawyer said.
The assistant district attorney said Crawley was informed she was free to leave the police interview whenever she got ready to go. All of Crawley's statements were voluntary, Saacks said.
Holmes said the police gave his client the run-around and kept her from feeling exactly free to leave. The cops mentioned to Crawley something about waiting for their supervisor to show up, plus they told the defendant her car was off limits, Holmes said.
Crawley's sister, Erin, from the witness stand said she went to the job site and picked up the defendant.
The judge said he'll rule later on whether or not to allow jurors to hear about Crawley's conversation with West and Pate.
The trial is expected to last two to three weeks, Stephens told potential jurors. He wanted them to consider that with respect to being able to serve on the jury.
The judge warned potential jurors about the possibility of hearing about unfaithfulness in relationships, as well as testimony about an abortion. Stephens told potential jurors they'd have to be able to take in that information and still be fair to the defendant.
Jury selection is expected to resume this morning.
