SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The jury has been selected and opening arguments are set to get underway Thursday morning in the joint trial of two men accused in the slaying of Shreveport Police Officer Chatéri Payne.
Tre’veon Anderson, 29 and 41-year-old Glenn Frierson are charged with one count of second-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit second-degree murder in Payne’s Jan. 9, 2019, shooting death.
After three days of a painstaking jury selection process slowed by the complexities presented in a joint trial for two defendants with separate attorneys and strategies for their defense, the final juror and one alternate were selected around 3 p.m. Wednesday.
The jury will be seated Thursday morning, after which opening arguments are slated to begin. After the prosecution, and defense attorneys for each of the two defendants conclude, the prosecution will begin presenting its case against the two men.
The prosecution’s case is expected to take a few days in that there are two defendants, who are being tried together but separately. The prosecution has subpoenaed dozens of witnesses, one of whom is 24-year-old Lawrence Pierre, who also was charged in the crime, but on Monday pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the case.
Pierre immediately was sentenced to mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole, probation or suspension of sentence, and the prosecution dismissed the conspiracy to commit murder charge against Pierre.
The Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office served Pierre with subpoenas to testify in the trial against his former co-defendants.
Due to the number of witnesses along with the dual defense, the trial could take as long as two weeks to conclude. Because it is not a capital murder case, the jury will not be sequestered, and court will not be held over the weekend.
