By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Jury selection can take hours or even days to seat 12 jurors and two alternates. But there are often bright spots in an otherwise tedious process.

As selection began Monday in the murder trial of a man accused of beating his grandfather to death with a gardening tool, Superior Court Judge Nathaniel Poovey provoked laughter with a question for one potential juror.

The man told the court that he could not serve on the jury because transportation is a problem for him. When the judge asked him to explain, the man said that his brother let him borrow a car, and that was his only way to get to court. He told Poovey that he had been unemployed for about five months.

“I think we just found you a job,” Poovey said to laughter.

Poovey told the man that he would get $12 for the first day of service and $20 for at least five days, then $40 a day thereafter.

The man agreed with Poovey that his money issues, at least for the duration of the trial, would be solved.

In the end, the potential juror was dismissed along with two others.