After jury selections, Richmond Hill suspect's trial to begin Monday

South Bend — Jury selection for the trial of Richmond Hill explosion suspect Mark Leonard ended Friday with 16 jurors seated so far.

The court will pick the final two alternate jurors on Monday and opening arguments will begin that afternoon, St. Joseph Superior Judge John M. Marnocha said.

The jury selection process on Friday went relatively smoothly, a day after Marnocha excused 56 prospective jurors and after he criticized Leonard's attorney for her earlier role in jury selections.

Likely mirroring the feelings of most in the courtroom, lead prosecutor Denise Robinson exclaimed at the end of the day: "We've got a jury!"

The failure to find any acceptable jurors on Thursday, the first day of jury selections, was blamed on two things — media exposure that led some of the St. Joseph County residents to say they already had an opinion on the case and the decision of Leonard's lead attorney, Diane Black, to introduce the prospective jurors to information about Leonard's attempt to hire a hit man to kill a witness. After Black's revelation, most of the juror prospects said they believed Leonard was guilty even before the beginning of testimony.

Leonard faces two counts of murder and more than 40 counts of arson in connection with the November 2012 explosion that killed two people, injured about a dozen others, and damaged or destroyed about 80 homes.

Marnocha said Friday from the bench that Black's introduction of the hit man information was "improper." It didn't appear that he sanctioned her or the defense in any way. But he said he won't let the defense benefit from letting that "proverbial cat out of the bag."

And in Friday's questioning, Black never mentioned the hit man to prospective jurors.

What kind of benefit Marnocha was talking about was unclear. But some prospective jurors from Thursday's proceedings suggested Black made the comment to try and make it harder to seat a jury in St. Joseph County, where the case has been moved due to pre-trial publicity in Indianapolis.

Black, in an interview outside the courtroom, said she shared the information about the hit man allegation "in order to get a fair trial for her client."

Specifically, Black said she's been working for more than a year to keep the hit man allegation out of the case. Leonard is accused of taking part in an arson-for-insurance-money conspiracy that wound up blasting apart much of the Richmond Hill neighborhood on Indianapolis' Southeastside.

Black said what happened to members of Thursday's jury pool — most of whom immediately became prejudiced against her client — proved the point of her legal challenges about the hit man information being introduced during trial itself. She said it was important for her to show that —— and to preserve an avenue for a possible appeal should Leonard be found guilty.

Lead prosecutor Denise Robinson has said the hit man evidence belongs in the trial, because it helps identify the culprit of the crime and shows motive and Leonard's awareness of his own guilt.

So far, Marnocha has agreed with the prosecution, saying that just because evidence is damaging to Black's client doesn't preclude it from being given to jurors at trial.

Leonard, his half-brother Robert Leonard, ex-girlfriend Monserrate Shirley, and Mark Leonard's former employee Gary Thompson are accused of conspiring to blow up Shirley's home in the Southeastside subdivision of Richmond Hill to collect insurance money to pay for mounting gambling and credit card debts and Shirley's heavily mortgaged home.

Shirley pleaded guilty to lesser charges in exchange for agreeing to testify for the prosecution.

Leonard's trial is being held in St. Joseph Superior Court in South Bend because of fears that publicity would prevent a fair trial in Marion County.

Call Robert King at (317) 444-6089. Follow him on Twitter at @RbtKing.