Jury selection stalled this week for the trial of DeMarqus Green as the court ran out of qualified jurors. Green, 23, of Anchorage faces charges of first-degree murder and second-degree murder in the death of Demian Sagerser. He also has been charged with tampering with physical evidence and first-degree armed robbery.

Jurors last week and on Monday filled out questionnaires. On Monday afternoon and Tuesday, defense and prosecution attorneys began interviewing potential jurors at the Homer Courthouse. Hearings were mostly closed door to protect the privacy of jurors. Kenai Superior Court Judge Anna Moran also imposed strict press rules prohibiting media from photographing jurors or reporting

their comments. In a brief courthouse interview on Monday with the Homer News, Moran also raised concerns about pretrial publicity.

On Tuesday, the court ran out of jurors. May jurors will be asked to fill out questionnaires this week, with interviews and selection starting next Tuesday, May 5.

Green is charged with robbing and killing Sagerser at Sagerser’s Stariski Creek home. A friend of Sagerser, Cimmaron Tangman, found Sagerser dead on the night of July 7, 2012. 

Alaska Bureau of Investigations investigators later determined Sagerser had been shot with a 9 mm gun. 

Tangman told investigators he knew Sagerser had feared being robbed and had a game camera in the trees outside his home. Tangman took the game camera and later turned it in to Alaska State Troopers when he reported the death of his friend. Tangman also told investigators six pint-size Mason jars of marijuana he had seen earlier were missing.

According to charging documents, investigators alleged that the game camera showed a man in a red shirt similar in appearance to Green. Green denied shooting Sagerser.

Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.