Jury selection is scheduled to kick off in Hays County today for the trial of Stewart Mettz, the man charged with the capital murder of a San Marcos police officer in 2017. Mettz, 57, stands accused of fatally shooting Officer Ken Copeland when the officer attempted to serve a warrant at Mettz's residence. Copeland was met with gunfire upon knocking on Mettz's door, succumbing to his injuries shortly after at a local hospital, according to KXAN,
The case, which has been lingering since December 4, 2017, was further complicated by a clerical mishap just days before the trial's commencement. A vendor's error led to a scramble with Hays County officials hand-delivering thousands of jury notices to residents—an oversight that may affect the trial's turnout. The error from Tyler Technology resulted in "like, eight people" showing up for jury duty when thousands were expected, as stated in FOX 7 Austin.
Mettz faces several charges alongside capital murder, including assault and injury to an elderly person. These charges stem from the events leading up to the confrontation with Officer Copeland, as per KXAN.
The jury summons blunder impacted nearly 6,000 notices across multiple counties, with operations reported to be back to normal. "We need to speak closely to Tyler for the coming days to make sure that we can know for sure when they get sent and have some sort of way that this happens, and it will be a while before we trust them to the degree we did," Hays County District Clerk Avrey Anderson, reported by FOX 7 Austin.
