GREENVILLE, Mo. -- Jury selection began this morning in Wayne County in the trial of a former patron of Brick's Off-Road Park, who allegedly was intoxicated when his pickup ran a stop sign near the park and struck a local woman's car, leaving her paralyzed and his passenger injured.
Wayne County Circuit Clerk Darren Garrison said he sent summonses for 60 residents to report for jury duty in the trial of Jeremy S. Sykes of Dyersburg, Tenn., before Circuit Judge Sidney Pearson III.
The 36-year-old is charged with two Class C felonies of second-degree assault. He is accused of causing physical injury to Lori Garner of Poplar Bluff, Mo., and his passenger, Becky Farrow of Dyersburg.
"There's been some excuses; I think I'll probably have 40 seated," said Garrison, who indicated the potential jurors were to check in with him at 8:45 a.m. "Court will start at 9, voir dire (jury questioning) after that."
Garrison expects the jury will be seated around lunch.
Once seated the jury will hear testimony surrounding a June 5, 2015, crash, which occurred at the intersection of Highway F and County Road 484.
At the time of the crash, Sykes was among the estimated crowd of 14,000 plus people at the park's Trucks Gone Wild Event June 4-7, 2015.
Sykes, according to earlier reports, allegedly was intoxicated when his pickup ran a stop sign near the park and struck Garner's car.
Garner, a former special education coordinator for the Poplar Bluff R-1 School District, was seriously injured in the crash, which damaged her vertebra and spinal cord and left her a quadriplegic.
Farrow also was seriously injured in the crash.
Butler County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Paul Oesterreicher amended the charges against Sykes in August.
Sykes now is charged as a prior offender, having pleaded guilty to the felony of possession of a controlled substance (cocaine) in November 2003 in Case County, Texas.
Sykes' prior offender status will take sentencing away from the jury if he is convicted of the charges.