A Republican candidate for Harris County District Attorney once called members of Lakewood Church, “screwballs and nuts,” in an effort to bounce a potential juror from a criminal trial.

Kelly Siegler, who is an assistant district attorney and one of four people seeking the GOP nomination for the DA’s office, made the comment last year after being challenged that her effort to strike the potential juror was based on his skin color.

The potential juror in question was black. It is illegal to strike a juror based on skin color.

“To start with, he's a member of Lakewood Church. And we have had a running agreement, my partner Luci Davidson and I have, since we started, that people who go to Lakewood are screwballs and nuts," Siegler is reported as saying in a court transcript. “I'm very familiar with that church. We try our hardest not to put anybody who goes to Lakewood regularly on any jury, he is a pretty devout member of Lakewood Church. That’s one reason that scared me about the man.”

Lakewood Church, the internationally known mega church headed by Pastor Joel Osteen, boasts one of the largest congregations in the nation.

Siegler’s comments came during jury selection in the capital murder retrial of Howard Paul Guidry

Guidry was put on death row in 1997 for killing Farah Fratta. She was found Nov. 9, 1994, in her garage in north Harris County with two bullet wounds in the head. Last Spring, a federal district judge and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Guidry was denied access to an attorney and that inadmissible evidence was allowed to be used against him during trial.

Siegler was placed in charge of retrying Guidry.

Siegler did not return 11 News calls seeking comment on the Lakewood statement.

However, she did tell the Houston Chronicle that the statement was taken out of context.

"I understand that it probably hurt people's feelings, but I said it in the context of trying to do my job," she told the Chronicle. Siegler said her objection to church members was because they were opposed to the death penalty.

A spokesman for Lakewood Church said church members would forgive Siegler for her disparaging remarks.

“Lakewood’s members are very forgiving,” church spokesman Donald Iloff said. “I rather doubt they’ll vote for Ms. Siegler, but they will forgive her.

Siegler is one of four Republicans seeking to replace embattled District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal. Rosenthal withdrew from seeking re-election after a series of salacious e-mails he sent to his executive assistant became public.