Eighty-eight potential jurors began the day at a Anchorage Federal Court yesterday as the selection process began in the case against members of the Alaska Peacekeepers Militia. By the end of the day, nine women and seven men were chosen to sit on the jury of twelve with four as alternates.

The unusually large pool of potential jurors were deemed nesessary because of the wide-spread publicity of the case. Potential jurors were summoned from throughout the state. At least half of the jury pool raised their hands when asked if they had heard or knew about the case. Nine of the potential jurors were let go because they admitted that they had strong opinions about the three men.

This jury will determine the guilt or innocence of militia leader Francis Schaeffer Cox, Coleman Barney, and Lonnie Vernon, who are charged with conspiracy to commit murder and federal weapons offenses. The trial is expected to carry on for at least a month.

Presiding over the militia case will be visiting Federal Judge Robert Bryan from Tacoma, Washington. Over the defendents objections, the trial will be held in Anchorage, Earlier the three had filed a motion to move the trial to Fairbanks, That motion was denied.

Arrested on March 10th, the three have been in custody since that time when authorities said they had collected an arsenal of illegal weapons – including grenades and machine guns – and were hatching a plan to kill Alaska state troopers and federal law enforcement agents. State charges against the three were dismissed in October of last year, but federal charges remained. More charges were leveled against Cox in November, those charges are related to the weapons charges being heard in court. The charges pertaining to the plot against government employees were’t leveled until January of this year.