Jury is Picked on NY Cop Cannibalism Trial

By LARRY NEUMEISTER

NEW YORK } Potential jurors seemed surprised when a judge began jury selection at a police officer's cannibalism trial Friday by describing sexually violent and deviant conduct they will hear about before deciding whether his plans to kill and eat women were fact or fiction.

And that was before they were handed questionnaires that included staged Internet color photographs of a nude woman hogtied on a roasting tray with an apple in her mouth and another naked woman tied horizontally to a pole over an open fire. A cartoon of a bound naked woman boiling in a glass pot was also included.

U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe spoke matter-of-factly about the trial of Officer Gilberto Valle, 28, who is charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping and with unauthorized access to a federal database.

Still, some prospective jurors furrowed brows and a few scowled as Gardephe touched on sensitive subjects while addressing 87 people before they answered 10 printed questions.

Standing at a lectern to encourage potential jurors to answer questions honestly, he told them the trial would feature emails and instant messages in which Valle discussed in great detail the kidnapping, raping, torturing, murdering and cannibalizing of certain women.

He said the defense would argue that Valle's communications "were all sexual fantasy and imaginary role-play, and that he never intended to kidnap, rape, torture, murder or eat any woman."

Many of Valle's communications took place on fetish websites in which people discuss, view and post images and videos of deviant conduct, including necrophilia, sexual asphyxiation, genital mutilation, rape fantasies, bondage and various forms of sadomasochism, the judge said.

"You will likely see images from these websites similar to the images attached ... to this questionnaire," Gardephe said.

He said the trial would not be a referendum on the websites and jurors would not be asked to address the legality of the websites or the images they feature.

Valle buttoned his gray suit before turning toward prospective jurors as the judge introduced him, along with lawyers on both sides. He has been jailed without bail since his arrest in the fall. Prosecutors say he conspired with three others to kidnap eight "specific and identified women." A New Jersey man charged in the case will be tried separately.

After the judge spoke about 10 minutes, jurors retreated to another room where they filled out the questionnaires before going home.

They were asked if they could remain impartial after witnessing images and testimony involving graphic descriptions of violence, including sexual violence, and if it bothered them that Valle looked at the images without his wife's knowledge.

They were also asked if evidence that Valle accessed websites devoted to deviant sexual behavior, including highly sexualized violent conduct, bondage and sadomasochism, would affect their impartiality.

A series of questions focused on their own use of the Internet, including how many hours a day they spend on it, whether they engage in online chatting and whether they have visited some websites likely to be featured during the trial. They also were asked if they wanted their answers to remain confidential.

Some potential jurors will be eliminated from consideration by their questionnaire answers, while others will be orally questioned beginning Monday.

Opening statements are scheduled for Feb. 25.
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