It’s the second day of jury selection for George Zimmerman’s second-degree murder trial. The former neighborhood watch volunteer is claiming self-defense for fatally shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford last year.
Potential jurors are facing questions from state prosecutors and defense attorneys about whether they’ve formed an opinion on the case, and how much media coverage they’ve seen, heard or read. Under questioning from defense attorney Don West, one potential juror seemed to sum up the difficulty of the task.
“Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year, it’s been pretty hard for people not to have gotten some or a lot of information", said the potential juror. "That’s a tough job that you have, I’m sure, trying to find the people who can at least open their minds enough to hear what you have to say.”
Out of 100 potential jurors called to court yesterday, 21 were kept as the pool continues to narrow. Six jurors are needed for the case to begin. Jury selection could take up to three weeks.