Home > Our Blog > In Trial for Marcelo Lucero’s Alleged Killer, Questions of Race and Ethnicity Spill Over Into Media

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In Trial for Marcelo Lucero’s Alleged Killer, Questions of Race and Ethnicity Spill Over Into Media

Posted March 4, 2010 by Ted Hesson
Categories: Hate Watch

**UPDATE, 3/5/10—Since I posted this last night, Newsday has revised their article about yesterday’s jury selection, removing any mention of the race or ethnicity of the selected jurors. Scroll down for an explanation of why they changed it (Hint- they have this media watchdog to thank). The post you see below is based on the original story that ran on Newsday’s website last night.

I wasn’t able to attend today’s jury selection session in the trail of Jeffrey Conroy, the 19-year-old Medford resident accused of stabbing and killing Marcelo Lucero, but Newsday’s Sumathi Reddy was there.

She reports that five jurors have been selected out of 130 potentials. Here’s what she has to say:

The five were picked after extensive questioning from State Supreme Court Justice Robert W. Doyle, Assistant District Attorney Megan O’Donnell and defense attorney William Keahon. A portion of the questioning took place in private.

Those selected so far include an African-American woman from Brentwood, a Latino man from Medford, and three white men from Port Jefferson Station, Shoreham and Baiting Hollow.

The article doesn’t say how Reddy or Newsday determined the race and ethnicity of the jurors, but it’s possible that Judge Doyle asked potential jurors about it, as he did on the first day of jury selection.

According to Reddy, selection continues on Monday, when Judge Doyle and the lawyers will work towards filling the remaining seven jury seats, as well as those for four alternates.

Why Newsday Changed the Story
When I read Reddy’s article about the five jurors online around 8:30pm last night, I noticed that the jurors were identified by race and ethnicity. I was curious how Reddy knew that, and whether the lawyers or the judge had asked potential jurors whether they were white, African-American, or Latino, as the story identified them.

I emailed Reddy, who told me that Jeffrey Conroy’s defense lawyer, William Keahon, had asked asked the five jurors whether they were Latino or Hispanic, and that one man identified himself as Latino. The African-American woman and the white men were identified by Reddy based on appearance/name, and the fact that they didn’t identify as Latino.

I had some doubts about determining race and ethnicity without verifying it, and emailed those to Reddy. By the time the article went to print (for this morning’s paper), that demographic info had been edited out, and the online version had been revised.

Mr. Dolan, or whoever handles Newsday’s payroll, please make any check or money order payable to Ted Hesson, media watchdog.

Tags : hate crimes, jeffrey conroy, marcelo lucero

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