Jury selection underway in trial for ex-Worcester councilor who confronted ICE
Jury selection began Tuesday morning in Worcester for a former city councilor who faces charges related to an immigration arrest of a Brazilian mother last spring.
Etel Haxhiaj, who represented the city's District 5, faces charges of assault and battery on a police officer and interference with police in connection with an immigration enforcement arrest during a chaotic scene on Eureka Street on May 8.
Immigration agents were arresting 40-year-old Rosane Ferreira-De Oliveira, a Brazilian mother of three. Haxhiaj was part of a group of about 30 people on the scene protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and demanding they release the woman.
Haxhiaj, in a statement previously posted to Bluesky, called the prosecution "frustrating."
"I did the humane thing to do in this situation, nothing more, nothing less," she wrote .
The case is being prosecuted by the Northwestern District Attorney's Office who was brought in as a special prosecution for the case.
The courtroom was packed with supporters of Haxhiaj on Tuesday morning in Worcester District Court.
Defense attorney Elizabeth Halloran, who is representing Haxhiaj, and special prosecutor Steven Gagne argued over last-minute motions before potential jurors were brought into the courtroom.
A judge decided to exclude the testimony of Worcester Police Officer Thomas Duffy, who is the head of the police union, at trial.
Haxhiaj's attorney argued that she would elicit testimony that "political pressures" gave rise for the former city councilor's charges.
The attorney described it as an "important and integral" part of the ex-councilor's defense.
The judge decided to exclude the testimony, however, stating that Duffy was not a "percipient" witness to the Eureka Street incident, and therefore not relevant to the question jurors will face.
Halloran told the judge that she expects to show jurors three to four clips taken from police officer's body-worn cameras.
There are about seven to eight witnesses expected to take the stand on Tuesday, and lawyers said they anticipate the trial to only last the day.
The presiding judge said he expects jurors to enter deliberations on Tuesday.
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