Lawyers to Pick Jurors for Woman's Running-Death Trial

GADSDEN, Ala. (AP) — Lawyers are ready to select a jury for the trial of an Alabama woman charged with capital murder in her granddaughter's running death.

Attorneys are due in court Friday afternoon to pick a jury for the trial of 59-year-old Joyce Hardin Garrard of Boaz.

Weather could be a problem following a second round of wintry precipitation in north Alabama in a week. But testimony is expected to begin Monday if things go as scheduled.

Prosecutors say Garrard made her 9-year-old granddaughter Savannah Hardin run for hours as punishment for a lie. The girl eventually collapsed and died later in a hospital.

Garrard says she's innocent. The defense says she didn't mean the girl any harm.

Defense lawyers also are asking the judge to move the trial outside of Gadsden.

(Story by: The Associated Press)

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