Jury Selection Begins in Tessier Trial

Jury selection will continue Wednesday in the trial of Tyler Tessier, accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend, Laura Wallen a year ago.

Public defender Allen Wolf has 20 strikes from the jury pool. Prosecutors have 10. Jury selection is expected to be completed Wednesday, and opening statements could begin Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.

Tessier faces a first-degree murder charge. And the trial, before Judge Michael D. Mason, is expected to last 10 days.

Wallen, 31, was a teacher at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia.  Her family reported her missing and held a news conference at the Montgomery County Police Department’s headquarters in Gaithersburg.

She was found dead just days later in a shallow grave in Damascus.

If found guilty, Tessier could be sentenced to life without possibility of parole, the highest sanction a Maryland court can deliver.

About Douglas Tallman

Reporter with 35 years experience throughout Maryland. Reach me at dtallman@mymcmedia.org or via Twitter at @MCM-Doug

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