Jury selection starts today in federal civil rights trial involving Jordan Brown’s lawsuit against Pa. State Police, troopers

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (KDKA) — Jury selection is set to begin today in the federal civil rights trial involving a lawsuit that was filed by Jordan Brown against the Pennsylvania State Police.

The lawsuit was filed in 2020, alleging that Brown’s rights were violated by the State Police and by the Troopers who were investigating the 2009 homicide in Lawrence County that resulted in his conviction that was ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. 

Brown was 11 years old when he was charged with shooting and killing his father’s fiancee, Kenzie Houk with a shotgun inside a home just outside New Castle. 

He was tried as a juvenile and found delinquent, spending more than 7 years behind bars. 

In 2018, the  Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously overturned Brown’s conviction, saying there was not enough evidence to prove that the shotgun was the murder weapon.  

The lawsuit claims that Troopers manipulated interviews, evidence, and procedures in order to get a conviction in the case.

The trial is expected to last approximately two weeks. 

Jury selection is scheduled to get underway at 9:30 a.m. at the Joseph F. Weis, Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Downtown Pittsburgh.