BOISE, Idaho — The Ada County has seen its fair share of high-profile cases. Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell and in 2025, Bryan Kohberger. I spoke with a District Judge and the Jury Commissioner who just received a national honor to talk about preparing for high profile cases.
- Ada County Courthouse has seen a number of high-profile cases
- District Judge James Cawthon speaks in general terms about challenges
- Jury Commissioner Randy Rutland and staff honored nationally
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
District Judge James Cawthon cannot talk about specific cases but was very open about the challenges they face when a high-profile case comes to Ada County.
"In a high-profile case you're dealing with a much higher amount of evidence, you're going to deal with a lot more people in terms of witnesses, attorneys, and people attending court and wanting to see," Cawthon said.
When asked if it is more of a challenge to pick a jury in a high-profile case, Cawthon said, "It can be, we have been fortunate because of the size of Ada County that we can bring in a big enough pool."
Judge James Cawthon says, in his opinion, every judge is well aware of the stress put on jury members.
"You are always aware about what you're asking your jury to participate in whether it's an extended time commitment, the subject matter that they will be exposed to, and the comfort of their welfare," Cawthon said.
If that subject manner does affect them emotionally after the trial is over, Jury Commissioner Randy Rutland says the county can offer help. It's one of the reasons they were recognized nationally for having what Rutland calls the best jury service in the country.
"We can offer counseling; we pay for the counseling. The jury would pick their own counselor but because of our Assistance Jury Fund we are able to reimburse the jury member whatever they paid for their counseling"
The 2024 Thomas Munsterman Award for Innovation was presented to Rutland and his staff earlier this month.
