Four Villagers have been chosen to serve on the jury in a political stalking involving a resident of Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.
The four Villagers are among six jurors who will decide the fate of 73-year-old Ed McGinty of the Village of Hadley. He will face trial this week in Sumter County Court on a charge of stalking.
Jury selection took place Monday. Two non-Villagers were selected for the jury. Two alternates were also chosen.
Some of the potential jurors screened by attorneys for both sides were asked if they had read coverage of McGinty’s arrest on Villages-News.com. Several acknowledged they had read the coverage, while two non-Villagers said they had not read it.
Judge Paul Militello, who oversaw Monday’s jury selection, instructed jurors not to read anything about the case, particularly stories published in the “online newspaper.”
McGinty, a vehement anti-Trumper, is well-known in The Villages for large signs posted around his golf cart in high-visibility areas.
McGinty was arrested on a stalking charge Sept. 24 after reportedly showing up at the home of a woman he had been in a verbal altercation with. He had been banned from the Hadley pool the previous day after verbally assaulting the woman, who had been wearing a “Joe Biden Sucks” T-shirt. He reportedly called her a “fat slob.”
McGinty was arrested again on Oct. 26 after returning to the Hadley pool and violating a court order by parking his golf cart too close to the woman’s golf cart, which was adorned with a red, white and blue inflatable Uncle Sam and Donald Trump propaganda. McGinty’s golf cart had a sign that read “Michelle Obama 2024.”