'Rockefeller' Jury Selection Begins

Gerhartsreiter to be called only 'the defendant' at trial
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted May 26, 2009 12:10 PM CDT
'Rockefeller' Jury Selection Begins
Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, center left, a German national who identifies himself as Clark Rockefeller, appears in Suffolk Superior Court, in Boston, Wednesday, April 22, 2009.   (AP Photo/Mark Garfinkel, Pool)

Jury selection has started in the kidnapping trial of a German man long called Clark Rockefeller, the Boston Herald reports. But he won’t be going by that name in the trial—in fact, most won’t call him anything but “the defendant.” He was indicted as Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, but only his lawyer and a prosecutor will use that name.

The defense slammed the judge’s decision not to use his name, saying “the court ought not get involved with who is this guy. It’s a needless level of prejudice.” Lawyers are picking jurors from a pool of 120 people, the AP reports.
(More Clark Rockefeller stories.)

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