Knoxville — A jury has finally been seated for the rape trial for former Vols A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams in Knox County Criminal Court.
Johnson and Williams are accused of raping a University of Tennessee coed in Johnson's room during a party at Johnson's South Knoxville apartment in November 2014. The men say they're innocent and allege the young woman had had consensual sex with Johnson in the past.
The jury selection process started Monday afternoon, and continued every day this week. The judge started court an hour earlier on Friday in hopes of getting a jury in place by the end of the day
Seven women and five men make up the 12-member jury pool. There are two minorities on the panel--- an Asian man and an Hispanic woman. Three alternates were chosen, one man and two women, and all of them are white.
With a jury finally in place, the judge set opening statements to begin at 10 a.m. on Monday.
The process took awhile because of the high-profile nature of the case, according to attorney Chuck Burks, who's been an attorney for nearly 40 years.
He's not involved with the case.
"You want the jurors to respond to you," Burks said. "You don't want them to just shake their head or sit silently. You want them to verbalize, that's when you learn more about your juror."
He says the attorneys are trying to get to know the jury and how they may decide a verdict.
The case has been hard fought in Criminal Court, with defense attorneys seeking access to the cellphone data and social media accounts of the alleged victim and others who knew her.
The state appellate court ultimately granted the defendants access to the information.
The alleged victim, a former UT athlete, appeared in May at a hearing before Judge Bob McGee. The judge closed the hearing to the public.
Both Johnson, a former star linebacker, and Williams are charged with two counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aiding and abetting in connection to the allegations.
The state Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in 2017 that text messages and social media messages could be relevant in the case.
Defense attorneys argue the messages could shed light on what actually happened the night of Johnson's party at the Woodlands apartment complex on Cherokee Woods Way.
The trial is expected to last at least a week.