Jury selectionMGN

<p class="p1">Jury selection continued Tuesday in state district court for a man charged with manslaughter in the shooting of a local pastor.

<p class="p1">Woodrow Karey Jr., 58, is accused of walking into Tabernacle of Praise Worship Center during a revival service on Sept. 27, 2013, and shooting Ronald J. Harris, 51, twice with a shotgun.

<p class="p1">It was the second day of jury selection, with dozens of prospective jurors being questioned by defense attorneys and prosecutors.

<p class="p1">Karey’s trial actually began in January but had to be halted because of inclement weather and those jurors were sent home.

<p class="p1">Judge Clayton Davis made the decision to continue the trial until this week.

<p class="p1">Todd S. Clemons and Adam Johnson, defense attorneys for Karey, were not happy with the decision at the time, saying they had “spent a lot of time and money on the case.”

<p class="p1">But Clemons said they were pleased that Davis allowed both sides to question prospective jurors on “the law on self-defense and the defense of others.”

<p class="p1">“If we raise the issue of self-defense, then the law is clear that the judge is obligated to give the jury the instructions and we feel that it’s applicable in this case,” Clemons said.

<p class="p1">Karey was originally indicted on a manslaughter charge, but prosecutors took the case back to a grand jury, resulting in a second-degree murder indictment.

<p class="p1">The state Supreme Court later threw out that charge, leaving only the manslaughter charge standing.

<p class="p1">Karey was released from jail in 2017 after four years behind bars when Davis reduced his bond from $500,000 to $50,000.

<p class="p1">Trial is expected to begin later this week once a jury is seated.

<p class="p1">A person convicted of manslaughter could face 40 years in prison.