Jury Selection in Garrard trial continues

Joyce Hardin Garrard

A prosecutor calls Joyce Hardin Garrard the “drill sergeant from hell,” a woman so mean she made her 9-year-old granddaughter run until the girl collapsed and died, all as punishment for lying about candy.

In court  her attorneys argue Garrard’s beloved granddaughter died because of other medical problems, not anything Garrard did.

Jurors will begin sorting out the differing images and medical conclusions this week as Garrard goes on trial in the death three years ago of Savannah Hardin.

If convicted of capital murder, Garrard could join only a handful of other women on Alabama’s death row.

Garrard’s trial follows repeated delays and years of legal maneuvering by prosecutors and the defense, much of it conducted without public comment because of a gag order imposed on attorneys, witnesses and others by Etowah County Circuit Judge Billy Ogletree.

Preliminary jury questioning concluded last week, and final jury selection is expected this week. Opening statements will follow.

The state has issued a subpoena for Robert Hardin, Savannah’s father and the son of Joyce Garrard, and Garrard’s husband Johnny Garrard.

Robert Hardin filed a malpractice suit last year blaming his daughter’s death on mistakes at Gadsden Regional Medical Center, where the girl was rushed immediately after collapsing outside the family home.

Claims made in Hardin’s lawsuit – that medical workers failed to properly treat the girl for low sodium levels after her collapse – are similar to defense arguments from pretrial hearings. But jurors may never hear any of it: The judge is considering a state request that would limit medical testimony and could hamper the defense’s case.

Prosecutors contend Garrard made the child run and carry wood for about three hours as punishment for a lie about eating chocolate. A school bus videotape captured the woman saying she planned to run the child “’til she can’t run no more.

Court documents, including some filed following her parents’ divorce in 2010, show Savannah had an unspecified medical condition that required continuous medication and treatment, including monthly visits with her regular doctor and trips every few months to see a urologist.

Authorities said the grandmother became angry when Savannah allegedly ate chocolate, which contains caffeine, because the girl’s condition meant she couldn’t have the substance.