Mass. doctor convicted in wife slaying testifies he felt ‘lonely’ during closed jury selection

Mass. doctor testifies in murder appeal

DEDHAM, Mass. — A once-prominent Boston doctor convicted of killing his wife after she discovered his secret sex life of prostitutes and Internet pornography has testified that he felt “lonely” and “isolated” when he looked around the courtroom during jury selection at his trial and saw no one there to support him.

The testimony of Dirk Greineder (GREN’-uh-deer) came Thursday during an unusual hearing in his appeal of his 2001 murder conviction.

Greineder’s lawyers contend that his constitutional right to a public trial was violated when jury selection was closed.

Greineder said he did not discover he had the right to open jury selection until 2008 while doing research in a prison library.

Greineder’s three adult children say they were told they would not be allowed to attend jury selection.