Man charged with killing child seeks to have jurors sequestered

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Attorneys for a man charged with abducting and killing a 9-year-old girl are asking a federal judge to release the names of potential jurors and sequester the final jurors during his trial.

An Oct. 29 trial is scheduled for Keith D. Nelson, who is accused of snatching Pamela Butler from outside her Kansas City, Kan., home in 1999. He is charged with kidnapping and causing her death during a sexual assault.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Defense lawyer Susan Hunt is asking U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Hays to sequester jurors throughout the case to protect them from publicity about the trial.

Hunt also wants Hays to change her mind and give the names and addresses of potential jurors to defense lawyers, which is the usual practice in federal court, she wrote.

An anonymous jury would violate Nelson's constitutional right to a public trial, she argued. Hunt also wrote that her client does not pose a threat to potential jurors and has never been involved in jury tampering.