BROOKHAVEN — Defendants Brandon and Gregory Case will be tried by a jury of their peers as they start trial Tuesday afternoon. Jury selection took about three hours to whittle down to 12 jurors and two alternates. 

Gregory and Brandon Case are charged with attempted murder, conspiracy of murder and shooting into a motor vehicle. District Attorney Dee Bates and Mississippi must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the Cases are guilty of those charges. 

District 14 judge David Strong said the selection process could seem a bit strange to some but it is truly random. A clerk punches a button and the computer randomly selects registered voters and landowners in Lincoln County. 

Strong told the courtroom he had been summoned four times in recent years and three of those times was for his own court. The final jury was selected after potential jurors answered questions about qualifications, exceptions or excuses and questions dealing specifically with the case. 

The jury will be made up of five white males, four white females, two Black females, one Asian female, a white female will serve as an alternate and a Black male will serve as an alternate. According to US Census Data, 68.4 percent of Lincoln County is white and 29.7 percent of Lincoln County is Black. 

In a press conference before the jury selection, D’Monterrio Gibson’s attorney Carlos Moore spoke about how an all white jury failed to indict anyone for the killing of Lamar Smith 68 years ago. 

“It is not lost on us that Lamar Smith was killed 68 years ago and no one was ever brought to justice despite it happening in front of the sheriff and over 30 witnesses,” Moore said. “We are cautiously optimistic that this county has changed and we have not stopped praying. We believe there is overwhelming evidence. We hope a fair and partial jury sees it and turns over a guilty verdict.” 

In criminal court cases, all 12 jurors have to be unanimous in turning in a verdict. Moore said he hopes they do not have a hung jury at the end of the trial.