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Jurors picked for city man's drug trial in Montana

By: James Turner

Posted: 01/12/2009 1:40 PM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

BILLINGS, MONTANA --It took just over two hours this morning to pick the five women and eight men now charged with determining Winnipegger Timothy Morneau’s fate.

Morneau, 33, is on trial today after being picked up during a traffic stop last February not far from this small U.S. city and indicted on federal charges that he smuggled a large amount of ecstacy into the U.S. with the intent to distribute the drugs.

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Two other co-accused have plead guilty and will testify against Morneau during the trial, scheduled to last until Thursday.

Alan Mulder and Christian Laurin, both 20 and are also from Winnipeg. They struck a deal with American justice officials to plead guilty for their roles in the trafficking ring and will become key witnesses.

Both Laurin and Mulder admitted they helped bring nearly 224,000 ecstasy pills which carry a street value of $5.5 million into the country. Drug enforcement officials have called the seizure one of the largest in the state’s history.

A panel of 31 prospective jurors were peppered with questions this morning by Judge Richard Cebull, government prosecutor Jim Seykora and Morneau’s defence lawyer, David Duke.

Among the wide range of questions asked to ferret out possible bias jurors may have toward the case they’re about to hear were a few relating to the controversial plea deal.

"One thing you might ask is: ‘how sweet was the deal?’ - I don’t know if we’ll get into that," Seykora told them.

The prosecutor also asked how jurors felt about those who testify in exchange for leniency.
"Sometimes in jail you’re called a snitch if you testify against somebody else," Seykora said. None of the 31 expressed any qualms about being able to fairly evaluate Laurin’s and Mulder’s testimony.

"They have to swear on the Bible too," said one female jury prospect. The woman ultimately became one of the 13 jurors picked to determine the facts.

If convicted, Morneau faces a minimum federal prison term of 10 years and a $4-million fine.

According to court documents obtained by the Free Press, Morneau allegedly recruited Laurin and Mulder to help him drive the ecstasy tablets across the Canadian-American border.

The trio first travelled from Winnipeg to Souris, where they allegedly stole a snowmobile Morneau allegedly used to bring the drugs into the U.S. without being detected by border guards.

Laurin and Mulder legally entered the country and allegedly met up with Morneau in Bismark, N.D., before carrying on south to Montana in Mulder’s 2003 Volkswagen Golf.

Their journey was intercepted in eastern Montana by a state trooper who pulled over their vehicle on an Interstate highway for having a burned-out headlight.

Police have indicated in court documents suspicious behaviour and inconsistent statements given by the three accused led them to search the vehicle and find three duffel bags containing about 68 kilograms of the drug.

Opening statements from Seykora and Duke, along with witness testimony begin at 2:30 Winnipeg time this afternoon.

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