Jury selected for trial in baby death

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -

A jury was selected Thursday for the trial of the Granger woman who is charged with felony feticide and neglect of a dependent. Her baby's body was found in a dumpster behind Moe's Southwestern Grill in July 2013.

It took most of the day to seat 12 jurors and find 2 alternates.

The bailiff said the jury pool was larger than normal because they had trouble finding people who were impartial and hadn't been swayed by pre-trial publicity.

Purvi Patel was wearing a hooded jacket to conceal her face when she walked into the courthouse on Thursday.

In the original probable cause affidavit, it states that police obtained text messages from Patel's phone that said she ordered drugs to induce labor.

A forensic pathologist stated in the affidavit that he believes the baby took a breath.

Around 70 potential jurors were in the court room. Judge Hurley called in around 30 potential jurors to ask them questions about whether they could be fair and impartial after reading the questionnaires they filled out.

From that, 6 people were dismissed and 1 other person was dismissed due to a case in drug court.

Jurors were also asked questions on abortion such as “Is anyone's belief so strong that you could not listen to the evidence?”

Trial is scheduled to start Monday morning.
 

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