Duncan's jury selection has been on hold for several weeks; ever since Duncan asked a judge to throw out his defense team and let him defend himself. The judge then ordered Duncan to undergo a mental evaluation and halted jury selection until that was complete. That evaluation is now done - though, because it is sealed, we can't see what it says. We can't see who did the exam, we can't see if Duncan cooperated and we can't see what, if anything, was determined as to his mental state. We're paying for his defense, but we don't get to know a thing about it.

As you can tell, I'm frustrated. I understand the judge's desire to keep from tainting the jury pool. I understand that, while most people don't like it, Duncan still has rights. While I understand those things, I don't think precluding the public from access to ANY of the information is the right decision. The judge even says that they could still release the report and redact the potentially embarrassing information about Duncan, but that if they did that, there wouldn't be much else to see. So, why not let us be the judge? Redact what you think you need to, yet keep the records open. This is the first federal death penalty case in recorded Idaho history, though the taxpayers and citizens who are paying for it won't have a clue how the process works and how the judge and jury came to their decisions. I understand the argument that victims need to be protected, but what's being done now is giving a convicted child serial killer more rights than the public and the press.