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	Judge Denies Jury Questionnaires in Alamo Case By Jon Gambrell Pine Bluff Commercial February 25, 2009 http://www.pbcommercial.com/articles/2009/02/24/ap-state-ar/d96ihdfg0.txt LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Potential jurors in the child-abuse case against jailed evangelist Tony Alamo will discuss their feelings on sex and religion in person, not on paper, a federal judge has decided. U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes turned down a joint request by federal prosecutors and the evangelist's lawyers to have potential jurors fill out questionnaires before Alamo's trial. Both sides requested the written queries, saying it would "minimize juror discomfort" over questions about delicate topics like sex and religion. In a two-page order dated Friday, Barnes wrote that the typical process of questioning jurors all together before trial would be sufficient in the evangelist's case. "The court believes that its standard voir dire examination will adequately protect the defendant in this case from prejudice," Barnes wrote. Acting U.S. Attorney Debbie Groom did not answer a request for comment Tuesday afternoon. In a filing to Barnes, her office wrote that up to 200 residents from the court's district in western Arkansas could be potential jurors in the case. John Wesley Hall Jr., the Little Rock lawyer representing Alamo, previously wrote the court that the allegations against his client could "evoke strongly held beliefs by many potential jurors about sexual misconduct." Alamo faces a 10-count federal indictment accusing him of taking underage girls across state lines for sex. "Jurors will naturally be reluctant to talk about some of these issues in front of other jurors," Hall wrote. "Moreover, there is a risk that somebody with strongly held personal views will state something that will prejudice the panel and create an avoidable risk of mistrial." Hall told The Associated Press late Tuesday that the even more sensitive issue might be Alamo's church itself. The church, once based in the small town of Alma east of Fort Smith, owned nearly every business in that western Arkansas community. Ministry members plaster windshields across Arkansas with the evangelist's tracts - even at the state Capitol during this year's legislative session. Critics of Alamo call his church a "cult," noting it thrives on criticism of homosexuals, Roman Catholics and the government, mixed with preachings about the end times. "The church has been around for a long time," Hall said. "Some people love it and some people hate it. We shall see." While Hall said he plans no other filings before Alamo's trial, he held out the possibility he would ask for the trial to be moved away from Texarkana. Arkansas State Police and federal agents raided Alamo's compound at Fouke on Sept. 20, searching for evidence that children there had been molested or filmed having sex. Five days later, FBI agents arrested the evangelist as he left a hotel in Flagstaff, Ariz. Alamo, convicted of tax evasion charges in 1994, remains jailed without bond and has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges. Since the raid, state officials have seized 36 children associated with the ministry over allegations of sexual and physical abuse. Alamo, 74, has repeatedly denied the allegations, claiming a conspiracy against him by one-world government forces controlled by the Vatican. He faces a May 18 trial in Texarkana.
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