August trial set for juror at center of mistrial in SC murder case

State Judge Robert Hood on Monday set the week of Aug. 24 for a likely trial for a former alternate juror accused of possibly tainting fellow jurors hearing the case against a man accused of killing a young Columbia mother.

Lisa McLean was an alternate juror in the June murder trial of Troy Stevenson, who was accused in the shooting death of 33-year-old Kelly Hunnewell, a mother of four, during an attempted robbery at a Columbia bakery.

McLean, who appeared in Richland County court Monday but did not speak, will have to show Hood why she should not be charged with contempt of court, an offense that could carry a jail term.

Bringing charges against a juror is rare.

Trial testimony took about a week. But just before the jury was to begin deliberations, assistant prosecutors from the 5th Circuit solictor’s office requested a mistrial on grounds of jury misconduct. They said one of their investigators saw an alternate juror, who apparently was McLean, hugging Stevenson’s family members outside of the courtroom.

The alternate juror also was allegedly trying to elicit cooperation from fellow African-American jurors to not convict Stevenson on charges of murder, second-degree burglary, kidnapping and attempted armed robbery.

The jury was made up of seven African-Americans and five whites. Stevenson is black.

Hood granted the mistrial.

It was not known Monday how much the state had spent on the Stevenson trial to that point. Prosecutors have not yet announced plans to retry Stevenson.

Prosecutors accused Stevenson, 18 at the time of the July 1, 2013, crime, of being the “lookout” while his younger half-brother Trenton Barnes, then 16, and friend Lorenzo Young, then 18, entered an offsite bakery for the Carolina Cafe and shot and killed Hunnewell, who was preparing bagels.

Barnes and Young were both found guilty of murder in December. Barnes received a 50-year sentence, while Young is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors said Barnes was the triggerman.

In South Carolina, a judge typically tells jurors throughout a trial not to discuss the case with fellow jurors or anyone else until the case goes to the jury.

During the June trial, Hood repeatedly had told jurors not to discuss the case and to keep an “open mind” about evidence.

McLean was represented in court Monday by public defender Constantine Pournaras, with 5th Circuit assistant prosecutors Dolly Garfield and Luck Campbell – who helped try Stevenson in June – appearing for the state.

This story was originally published July 21, 2015 at 7:29 AM with the headline "August trial set for juror at center of mistrial in SC murder case."