Jury selection begins in Clinton murder trial

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By Steven Martens | Monday, May 19, 2008 1:38 PM CDT | () comments

CLINTON, Iowa — Jury selection began this morning in the trial of a Clinton man accused of stabbing a woman to death in her downtown Clinton apartment five months ago.

Benaiah Mabiln, 26, is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery in connection with the death of Sandra Chambers-Singh, 41, whose neighbors found the woman’s body in her apartment Dec 13.

Attorneys began the process of narrowing a Clinton County jury pool of about 80 people to 12 jurors and one or two alternates this morning. District Judge Mark Cleve told prospective jurors the trial is expected to last about a week.

Assistant Iowa Attorney General James Kivi, who is helping to prosecute the case, told prospective jurors that DNA evidence will be presented along with evidence that Chambers-Singh, who was the single mother of a 3-year-old boy, used cocaine around the time of her death. Kivi told the jury pool that to determine whether such knowledge would affect their ability to render a fair verdict in the case.

Defense attorney Bruce Ingham asked prospective jurors to keep in mind that the legal definition of “murder” may not be the same as the definition they commonly use.