When San Antonio Police Officer Frances Ochoa heard “officer down” on her police radio the morning of Nov. 20, 2016, she got into her patrol car and drove from the Central Substation to nearby Public Safety Headquarters as fast as she could, she testified in day four of the trial of Otis McKane on Thursday.

SAN ANTONIO – After a four-month delay, individual questioning of prospective jurors resumed in the capital murder trial of a man charged in the slaying of a San Antonio Police Department detective. Jury selection in the trial of Otis McKane was put on hold in December as the number of COVID-19 cases in Bexar County began to soar. The questioning is being conducted in the huge Central Jury Room of the Justice Center amid strict COVID-19 protocols, with social distancing and the wearing of masks enforced. “That definitely has changed things,” defense attorney Joel Perez said of how COVID-19 protocols are affecting jury selection. AdSince over four years have passed since the slaying, Perez said finding jurors may be slightly easier.

SAN ANTONIO – Citing an emergency order from the Texas Supreme Court, Local Administrative Judge Ron Rangel has ordered that there will be no in-person civil or criminal jury trials in Bexar County until April 1 at the earliest. Rangel ordered a moratorium on jury trials due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus in March when the COVID-19 pandemic started. With the moratorium in place, judges soon began to worry about case backlogs in their courts. Jury selection in his case was suspended in November due to Covid-19 health concerns. Rangel said, “Once we seat a jury I do not anticipate starting that jury trial until health conditions permit, and I don’t see that happening for awhile.”

SAN ANTONIO – The jury selection process had qualified eight jurors in the capital murder trial of Otis McKane when it was temporarily suspended Friday by Bexar County District Judge Ron Rangel. The judge cited concerns over the growing number of positive COVID-19 cases in Bexar County as reason for halting the proceedings. “You could see that concern developing among the jury panel as we were bringing them in,” Fuchs said. The state is seeking the death penalty for McKane, 31, who is accused of fatally shooting veteran San Antonio Police Department Detective Ben Marconi. ”What he wants ultimately, in our case, is that the justice system and the jury decide our client’s fate.

SAN ANTONIO – Jury selection resumed today in the capital murder trial of Otis McKane, the man accused of shooting San Antonio Police Department Detective Ben Marconi at point-blank range. Jurors are being interviewed based on a questionnaire they completed in March before a moratorium on jury duty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Backstory: Otis McKane on trial for execution-style killing of SAPD Detective Benjamin MarconiJudge Ron Rangel of the 379th District Court, who will be presiding over the trial, says each juror gets questioned extensively regarding any potential bias or prejudices they may have. Both sides have requested the opportunity to add additional questions to this questionnaire because of the social unrest that’s been going on in the community this year. Rangel says he will accommodate.

SAN ANTONIO – When jury selection resumes Monday in the capital murder trial of Otis McKane, individual jurors will be interviewed based on a questionnaire they completed in March prior to a moratorium on jury duty ordered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “When you’re dealing with a death penalty case each individual juror gets questioned extensively regarding any potential bias or prejudices they may have,” said 379th District Judge Ron Rangel, who will be presiding over the trial. Jury selection will go slower than normal due to COVID-19 protocols, he said. “We’ve got to clean the entire courtroom between every juror, and that’s going to take time”, Rangel said. He predicted that jury selection will likely go well into January.

SAN ANTONIO – Jurors will be given a questionnaire addressing social issues raised during police reform demonstrations in the trial of a man charged with killing a San Antonio police officer. Rangel said the questionnaire will address social issues raised during demonstrations this summer in San Antonio and across the country. McKane, who is Black, is accused of slaying San Antonio Police Department Detective Ben Marconi, who was white. Rangel said the questionnaire will also include questions about bias and prejudice. Both the prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed that the supplemental questionnaire was necessary.

SAN ANTONIO – Jury selection in the capital murder trial of a 31-year-old man charged in the execution-style shooting death of a San Antonio police officer will resume Oct. 26, according to 379th District Court Judge Ron Rangel. In early March, prospective jurors had completed questionnaires in the trial of Otis McKane, but the pandemic set in and jury selection was halted. McKane is accused of shooting San Antonio Police Department Detective Ben Marconi as he sat in his patrol car outside Public Safety Headquarters on the morning of Nov. 21, 2016. Rangel explained that COVID-19 safety protocol will be in place during jury selection. “We’re to make sure that between every juror everything in the courtroom is cleaned in the courtroom,” he said.