9 a.m. Jury selection is scheduled to begin this morning. Defense attorney Bill Butler told Judge Kevin Delahanty that Germain was late for trial because he had been out of town for a family medical emergency and was driving back to Louisville yesterday. He said Butler had told him the case could be tried in his absence.
Defendants can waive their presence at trial in cases involving misdemeanors.
I had every intention of being here . . . But I had to see my wife through this crisis. Butler noted that his client had been present at all hearings in the case. Because of Germain's late arrival a pool of potential jurors was no longer available, and the trial is now scheduled to begin today. Outside the courtroom, Germain declined to comment.