Hundreds summoned for Dasen jury trial

Summonses went out Friday to 450 prospective jurors for the Dick Dasen Sr. prostitution trial.

It is the biggest jury pool in the history of Flathead County, according to Clerk of District Court Peg Allison, who is jury commissioner.

"It's huge," she said of the call for jurors.

For a typical criminal case, Allison calls 50 potential jurors to seat a panel of 12, with an alternate or two. The typical criminal jury trial lasts five days or less.

The main reason for the unprecedented number of jury summonses is the length of the Dasen trial, which is expected to last four to six weeks, Allison said. That makes it impossible for some people to serve.

Jurors with planned surgeries or existing travel plans will likely be excused, Allison said.

On April 25, the first third of those who are summoned will appear for jury selection. Of those 150 prospective jurors, some will have made a convincing case of hardship to the court and will be excused for health or financial reasons, Allison said.

She guesses that 25 to 50 people will have been excused out of each group of 150. That requires a written request to the judge and his written approval to be excused.

If a panel of 12 can't be seated from that first group, another panel of 150 will appear the next day. The same thing could happen the next day.

"Everybody's doing a lot of estimating and guessing here," Allison said.

"It has nothing to do with the case itself; it has to do with the procedures," she said.

If a jury is seated the first day or the next day, the remaining jurors will be called and told they won't be needed, or they may call Allison's voice mail for updates.

The devil will be in the details as 150 people crowd onto the third floor of the courthouse at a time.

For example, there is only one water fountain there.

A couple of vending machines on the first floor, outside the jail, provide a limited variety of pop, juice, and snacks, Allison said. More might be necessary.

"It is amazing how many little things we're trying to prepare for with the number of people who will be up here on those days," Allison said.

An industrial-sized coffee pot will be needed, she said.

She and court administrator Bonnie Olson are trying to think of everything they can to improve juror comfort, she said.

Once a jury is selected, everything will go back to normal size as just 12 jurors and some alternates are easily accommodated.

The largest jury pool ever called in Flathead County was 300 people summoned to be screened for the Jesse Ernst murder trial, Allison said.

The Dasen case will reportedly involve thousands of pieces of evidence and a lengthy list of witnesses.

Dasen, a Kalispell businessman, is charged with 14 counts of criminal activity centering around alleged prostitution. Police say he spent millions of dollars on sex over the past years.

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com