Jury Selection Begins in Tony Alamo Trial

(AP)  Lawyers for evangelist Tony Alamo, who is accused of taking five underage girls across state lines for sex, asked potential jurors Tuesday whether they go to church and whether they have any children.

Alamo, 74, is named in a 10-count federal indictment alleging that girls were brought to him while he was in West Virginia and Memphis, Tenn., awaiting a 1994 trial for tax evasion. Prosecutors allege that other girls were abused as late as 2005.

Under extraordinary security, more than 100 potential jurors sat through questioning by lawyers and U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes. Six members of the 12-person panel were seated by mid-morning. Lawyers will also select two alternates.

Prosecutors asked the potential jurors whether they could trust children to tell the truth and whether they could tell by looking at a person whether he or she was a child abuser. They also wanted to know whether panel members had any opinions about state child welfare officials. Prosecutor Candace Taylor ended her questioning of jurors by asking whether they believed that Alamo "was being targeted by the United States because of his religious teachings?"

Alamo has claimed a Vatican-led conspiracy against him prompted the charges.

"Can each and every one of you assess a witness' veracity, one at a time, regardless of their age?" asked Don Ervin of Houston, Alamo's chief lawyer.

Several vehicles with Homeland Security markings were parked around the courthouse, with uniformed officers nearby. The U.S. Marshal Service said last week that it would have additional officers on duty.

Reporters monitored the first round of questioning by audio feed in a court clerk's office since the courtroom was packed with potential jurors.

[hitalent]

Alamo, claims that a "Catholic led conspiracy" is responsible for the charges against him.

What difference does that make? If they are true, he needs to be served his justice and be sentenced on them. If they are not true, God can make sure he is acquited and set free. I will be praying for him.

[hitalent]

The Bible gives the qualifications for "spiritual leaders," they are referred to as "elders" and "deacons" and it goes on to say that they are supposed to have only one wife. It also refers to "pastors" and "teachers" and I am sure that the same qualifications that applied to deacons and elders also applies to pastors and teachers and evangelists.

This man, Alamo, is certainly way off on this qualification. Not only has he had more than one wife, according to the allegations against him, but he has made wives out of minor girls. What Bible has he been preaching from I wonder? If he has been using the Bible to preach from, he certainly has not been living by its rules.

[SamThornton]

Given the sexual peccadilloes that seem to dog American church leaders, I wonder whether it's time start thinking about listing the occupation of "spiritual leaders" as a separate category of obsessive sexual offenders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

[hitalent]

If Alamo is guilty and if he repents, God will forgive him.

But he has tarnished his qualifications for being an evangelist anymore.
And he should serve whatever sentence the court decides.

But, if he is somehow being framed, I hope that he gets cleared by the courts and gets back to serving his Lord in his God given capacity as an evangelist. I will be praying for him.