SAGUACHE — A jury trial scheduled to last approximately two weeks was off to a rocky start Tuesday, Nov. 12, when jury selection stalled owing to an insufficient number of jurors.
Jurors were summoned to serve in the case of Steven Heimberg, arrested in September 2018 in the shooting death of Richard Wharton, 42, of Saguache. Wharton was found dead in the early morning hours of Sept. 7, 2018, atop one of the buildings in Heimberg’s business complex.
Heimberg is the owner of the Lumber Mart, located at 550 Denver Ave. in Saguache.
Wharton was pronounced dead at the scene. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was called in to investigate, along with a multiagency federal task force from Safe Streets.
According to the Saguache Clerk of the Court’s Office Tuesday, not enough jurors were secured to guarantee Heimberg a fair and impartial trial. Saguache County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched Tuesday, armed with subpoenas, to summon the additional jurors.
According to one unconfirmed report, some jurors summoned did not appear for selection. An official court website lists the penalties for failing to respond to a juror summons here: http://www.cod.uscourts.gov/JurorInformation/JuryFAQs.aspx#5. Potential jurors could be brought before a judge to explain their noncompliance. If their explanation fails, they could be fined up to $1,000, imprisoned for up to three days, ordered to perform community service, or any combination of the above.