Jury is selected for Michael Jackson Case
Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:39 pm
Jury Selected for Michael Jackson Case
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) - Well ahead of schedule, a jury was selected Wednesday for pop star Michael Jackson's child molestation trial.
"We have a jury," Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville announced at late morning.
The panel included four men and eight women, ranging in age from 20 to 79. The racial and ethnic breakdown appeared to be: seven whites, four Hispanics and one Asian.
After the jury was sworn in, attorneys moved on to selection of eight alternate jurors.
Jury selection had been expected to last several weeks, but took only five court days, which were interrupted by a one-week break due to the death of an attorney's sister and another one-week break because Jackson was hospitalized with flu-like symptoms.
Among jurors were a woman who said her grandson was required to register as a sexual offender because of a crime; a woman who said she was related to the pilot of Flight 93, one of the planes that went down on Sept. 11; a 20-year-old man who likes "The Simpsons" TV show; and a man who's very interested in Western art and country music.
One of the jurors had been asked during selection if he recognized celebrity witnesses in the case including self-help guru Deepak Chopra. He responded, "I think he's a rapper."
So now the trial will begin.Let's see how these jurors see all the evidence and decide properly.
