GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. — A man facing the death penalty for allegedly murdering a Daytona Beach Police Officer was in Clay County court Tuesday for the first day of jury selection in his case.
Othal Wallace, 31, is charged in the fatal 2021 shooting of Daytona Beach Police Officer Jason Raynor. He has pleaded not guilty.
The trial was moved to Clay County because both sides agreed it would be difficult to pick an impartial jury in Volusia County.
Of the 69 jurors questioned Tuesday, only three had previously heard of the case. But more than half said they could not sit for the four-week trial for personal or financial reasons, and the judge ultimately excused 25 for hardship. By day’s end, 32 potential jurors remained. They will return Wednesday for additional questioning.
Additional potential jurors will be called later this week to form a jury of 12 with four alternates.
Jury selection is expected to take most of the week, and Judge Raul Zambrano told jurors to plan for a monthlong jury service.
Prosecutors say Wallace shot Officer Raynor in the head during a June 23, 2021, confrontation behind Wallace's apartment. Raynor died of his injuries 55 days later.
After a three-day manhunt, Wallace was discovered hiding out in a treehouse outside Atlanta on property owned by an extremist Black militia group, NFAC, labeled a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
At a final pretrial hearing Friday, Judge Zambrano said he would allow jurors to hear a statement police say Wallace uttered after his arrest: “You know who I am. You know what I’m capable of, and it could have been a lot worse.”
The judge will also allow the jury to see Instagram posts Wallace made before the shooting, including one from June 7, 2021 that said, "1 Day I Will Take Great Pride And Honor In Getting Me Some Pigs Blood On My Hands And Boots. I Pray Against My Enemy And Wish Death To All Who Are Oppressive To The Black Culture… Black Power!!"
Wallace’s family was present in the courtroom, seated in the jury box along with some members of the media.
If convicted in the guilt phase of the trial, Wallace will face a separate penalty phase at which jurors must choose a sentence of life in prison or death. Florida law changed in April, eliminating the state's requirement for unanimous verdicts in death cases. Now, a jury vote of 8-4 will send a defendant to death row.