Jury seated trial of former Miami-Dade teacher accused of sex with student

MIAMI – On Tuesday, as jury selection continued, attorneys for former Miami-Dade teacher Jason Meyers cited a Local 10 News report from the previous day in having a prospective juror dismissed from the pool before attorneys were able to whittle it down by the early evening hours.

Meyers, a former English teacher at Miami Palmetto Senior High School is on trial after police accused him of having sex with a 17-year-old student. He was arrested nearly seven years ago.

On Monday, Local 10 News reported that Juror No. 5 told the judge that her daughter and her friends were students at Palmetto and were “not surprised” over the allegations.

“After the fact, I know different girls were not surprised to hear it,” she said Monday. “It was no surprise that this was the person.”

Defense attorneys revisited those comments, using the Local 10 report for documentation, leading to the prospective juror being removed from the pool.

The pool was cut by half Tuesday. Attorneys questioned prospective jurors, trying to gauge whether they could be fair.

“For me, the evidence would have to be insurmountable,” a juror said.

Some jurors said they had no issue with a 17-year-old choosing to have sex with anyone. In Florida, the age of consent is 18.

“I think 17 is probably a little, already old enough,” a juror said.

Jurors were also asked whether coming forward immediately made the alleged victim less credible.

“Does anyone feel that that person must not be telling the truth or that it didn’t happen?” prosecutor Jessie Friedman asked.

Potential jurors were also asked how they dealt with their own trauma.

Another juror said when he went to Killian High School, he knew a student and a teacher there having sex.

After impaneling the jury late Tuesday, statements were set to begin Wednesday morning.