Jury selection in George Zimmerman's murder resumed in Sanford Florida on Friday, following four days of interviews with different potential jurors, the Huffington Post reported. Zimmerman began his second-degree murder trial earlier this week for the the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, which occurred late February last year.
The first four days in Zimmerman's trial focused on pretrial publicity - what jurors know, and how they feel, about the Miami Gardens teen's death - and attorneys continued questioning potential jurors on that this morning, news reports said. The last juror called for questioning on Friday morning was the potential juror 'G-63,' who said he knew that Zimmerman "wasn't immediately arrested" after the shooting and there were protests and "accusations of racism." The juror said he remembered a debate about gun and self-defense laws, and said he heard that a prominent law enforcement official was fired, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
On Friday, news reports said discussion of when the parties can finish a hearing on the admissibility of state audio experts who say it is Martin's voice heard screaming in the background of a 911 call before the gunshot.
Circuit Judge Debra Nelson brought in 23 jurors already questioned this week and told them they could go home until Tuesday, possibly a signal that those jurors are ones who've made it through the pretrial publicity round of questioning so far.
The judge heard testimony on that last week, but had to postpone the end of the hearing because a defense expert wasn't available. The parties hope to finish the hearing on Tuesday, they said in court today, likely after that day's jury selection work.
Dozens of jurors summoned to the Seminole County criminal courthouse so far this week have been sent home because of their views on the case.
Attorneys in the case hope to get 40 jurors - up from their earlier goal of 30 - through the pretrial publicity phase, before moving on to a more-traditional, group jury selection process. Ultimately, they're looking for 10 Seminole County residents: Six jurors and four alternates willl decide the murder case.
Zimmerman's trial began Monday, and Circuit Judge Debra Nelson confirmed Thursday that the jurors ultimately seated in the case will be sequestered until it is over, news reports said. Judge Nelson estimated the trial should last two to four weeks, without counting jury selection.
Zimmerman s accused of profiling, pursuing and killing, the unarmed Martin. His attorneys contend that he shot and killed him only in self-defense after the boy attacked him.
