Juror excused in Markeith Loyd murder trial for not revealing her prior criminal past
ORLANDO, Fla. - On day 2 of the Markeith Loyd murder trial, the judge dismissed a juror, after concerns over misleading answers about her past in court.
Judge Leticia Marques says, "You are excused from jury duty in this case and discharged. It appears to the court that your answers were not accurate."
The juror was escorted out of the courthouse by a deputy in apatrol car, despite concerns from the defense.
The defense attorney says, "We really don’t feel you should strike this witness, we’ve gotten this far, we think it will have a impact on other jurors seeing a person got struck it’s going to cause a whole lot of problems."
But prosecutor Ric Ridgeway says, "Had we known then what we’ve know now, we would have used our last strike to take her out of the jury." Judge Margues, has an alternate, who’s an African American man, replace the African American woman. "She did not reveal that she had been involved in a criminal case."
While Markeith Loyd is on trial for the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend Sade Dixon, witnesses from the day Loyd allegedly shot and killed Lt Debra Clayton take the stand. However, they’re not allowed to specifically talk about the moment she was hit and killed per judges orders. Witness Takeshia Bryant says, "I stopped her and let her know Markeith Loyd was in the store.
"You saw the two guns?"
"Yes sir, what did you do?"
"I got on the ground."
"What did you did you hear after you got on the ground?"
"Shots back and forth."
Witness Brian Striby says, "I heard the police yelling either stop, stop, stop. He pulled out his gun and started shooting. Did you see the officer? Yes."
The defense tries to question the credibility of a witness, who’s a convicted felon, "Are you trying to pay off a debt for the deal you got from the prosecutor in this? What deal? Probation. I violated probation and got a sentence so I don’t know what deal you’re referring to."
Court will continue on Monday at 9:00 a.m.