Six months after a mistrial, jury selection is moving forward in preparation for Richard Ellison’s new trial.
Of the potential jurors that gathered at Merrimack Superior Court, eight were selected to sit on the jury Monday by press time. Eleven of the eventual 12 jurors and six alternates are now in place.
Ellison, 49, is standing trial on charges of first- and second-degree murder once again, regarding his involvement with the fire that burnt down 84-year-old Robert McMillan’s 282-284 N. State St., home, killing him in 2005. McMillan was pulled from the house and transported to a Massachusetts hospital where he later died. He needed help maneuvering around his home, but his regular live-in caretaker, Stephen Carter, was not present during the fire.
Ellison has been detained since 2018 in Merrimack County Jail, including after the case’s initial trial in September of 2021, which ended after Superior Court Judge John C. Kissinger announced in a court order that “a deliberating juror reported a personal situation which made continuing jury service very difficult.”
This and the fact that jurors stayed deadlocked throughout their three sets of deliberation caused the judge to deem the trial as a possible miscarriage of justice, and eventually granted a retrial.
Although the retrial was originally slated to start Monday, Kissinger stated that the trial will likely start Thursday morning after another day of jury selection, but he said that could change.
Thursday’s potential first day of trial will feature a trip to the scene of the fire for jurors to get more familiar with the case and get a look at where the crime occurred, much like in the first trial.
It is still unknown whether Carter will be brought in as a witness. Ellison’s attorneys, the state’s attorneys and Kissinger discussed their intent to get ahold of Carter’s attorney, Don Topham, to see his willingness to take the stand. Jeremy Clemans, one of Ellison’s attorneys, emphasized the importance of this decision.
“This is a big part of the case that we need to figure out,” he said to Kissinger.
Jury selection will continue on Wednesday.