Jury selection continues today in sex abuse case

By Tom Blakey

Transcript Staff Writer

Jury selection will continue today in the trial of an Oklahoma City man charged with nine counts of sexual abuse of a child.

Vincent Vasquez, 38, Oklahoma City, is charged with the sexual abuse of an 11-year-old girl between Aug. 15 and Dec. 31, 2006.

Jury selection will continue at 8:45 a.m. in the courtroom of District Judge Tom Lucas.

According to court documents, the alleged victim told her best friend at school she was being molested, and the friend informed school personnel. When interviewed, the girl told counselors she was being molested by the defendant, and that Vasquez made her watch two pornographic videos on an Internet site.

Before voir dire, or the questioning of prospective jurors about their backgrounds and potential biases, Lucas considered a motion by defense attorney Tracy Shumacher to allow the jury to view graphic images from two Web sites the girl said Vasquez showed to her on his laptop computer.

The defense contends the girl viewed the Web sites, with graphic video clips and images on a computer in her room, and used the information she gleaned from the sites to frame Vasquez.

"All the things she attributes to my client are things she saw on the Web site," Shumacher said.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Austin argued the images being shown on the two Web sites today are "not what was on them in 2006" and said the jury's current viewing of the Web sites "has no evidentiary value."

Lucas said he "looked at the graphic images attached to the motion," and found them "pretty gross."

Lucas said the images' potential "prejudice far outweighed" their limited relevancy. If they later become more relevant to the case, he might reconsider his decision, Lucas said.

Tom Blakey 366-3540 tblakey@normantranscript.com