Jury selection underway in Snyder battery trial

by Troy Kehoe (tkehoe@wsbt.com)

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David Snyder enters the courthouse on Monday, July 28, 2008. He faces charges of misdemeanor battery and felony intimidation with the threat to kill in connection with a fight at Roseland Town Hall in January 2007. (WSBT photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Jul 28, 2008 at 5:25 PM EST

Story Updated: Jul 28, 2008 at 5:27 PM EST

ROSELAND — A high profile criminal case involving two Roseland Town Council members is on its way to trial. Former Roseland Town Councilman David Snyder faces two counts of battery and intimidation after allegedly getting into a fight with fellow Councilman Ted Penn early last year.

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Jury selection began Monday afternoon. Nearly 18 months of pre-trial publicity has made finding an impartial jury particularly difficult. Snyder's defense attorney Ed Hearn and Deputy Prosecutor Joel Gabrielese questioned potential jurors into the evening.

Both the misdemeanor battery charge and the felony intimidation with the threat to kill charge stem from an alleged fight between Snyder and Penn at Roseland Town Hall in January of 2007.

We did get a brief glimpse of what might lie ahead in this trial — as Hearn made an immediate motion to exclude Ted Penn as a witness because he was on "prescribed medication at the time of the alleged attack."

That motion was quickly denied by Judge Jerome Frese.

Penn is at the top of a long list of more than 30 potential witnesses who could be called to testify — from fellow council members to police officers and medical experts.

Monday, David's wife Dorothy said that testimony will prove what really happened — once and for all.

"I'm absolutely confident of David's innocence,” she told WSBT News. “Unfortunately, the media needs to step back. This needs to be tried in the courtroom. That's where the real facts will be given to the people who it is their responsibility to weigh what they're told and what they see and what they know, and come to a conclusion."

Dorothy Snyder also said she's "ready to have all this behind her."

Opening arguments are expected to get underway Tuesday afternoon. The trial is expected to last two or three days.

Neither charge carries mandatory prison time. But if David Snyder is convicted on both counts, he could serve up to eight years behind bars.

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