In the first day of more substantial jury questioning the pool of 40 jurors were questioned by attorneys for the prosecutions about their biases, guns and their thoughts on neighborhood watch groups in the George Zimmerman murder trial, according to Fox News.
Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda questioned the pool as the process to narrow the jury down to 10 continued on Wednesday. De la Rionda read off a list of potential witnesses to the group of prospective jurors and asked if they recognized any of the names. Two of the jurors recognized more than a few of the names, according to Fox News.
"What you heard and saw anywhere outside the courtroom can't factor into your decision," de la Rionda said. "What you saw on TV or on the Internet or read or what the media said is completely irrelevant."
De la Rionda also tried to emphasize to the jury that the things they may have seen on TV watching programs such as "Law and Order" are not necessarily the way things are in real life.
When questioned more than two dozen of the potential jurors said that they owned a gun with one juror mentioning that he was a member of the NRA. Fourteen jurors said that they had been victims of a crime with four of those being victims of violent crimes, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
On Thursday Mark O'Mara, Zimmerman's attorney, is going to have his opportunity to question the potential jurors. Later in the afternoon jury selection will be put aside in order to hear more testimony regarding the admissibility of a 911 recording which may have Trayvon Martin's voice in the background calling for help.
State experts have testified that the screams heard on the 911 call definitely did not come from Zimmerman. On Thursday one of those experts is expected back in the courtroom. Tom Owen is going to rebut previous testimony from an expert for the defense who claimed that it is impossible to identify whose voice was screaming on the call, reports the Orlando Sentinel.
To watch all of the courtroom drama on a live stream click here.
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