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On Monday in Jacksonville, Fl., the trial for the man who shot and killed an unarmed Jordan Davis in December 2012 began with jury selection.

Michael Dunn is charged with one count of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder for shooting into a car with four teens inside, following an argument over loud music. Davis, 17, was killed in the back seat. Dunn is expected to use the controversial Stand Your Ground law, as he claims he saw a weapon in the teens’ vehicle.

Police could not recover a firearm in their truck.

Attorneys are working to find a panel of 12 jurors and four alternates to serve on Michael Dunn’s trial. As of Monday, 526 jurors were checked in, according to the Clerk of Courts Office. That pool consists of potential jurors for 17 different panels, however, so not all will be considered for the Dunn trial. The pool specifically for the Dunn trial is about 100 jurors.

On Tuesday, another 100 potential jurors will report to the courthouse.

The Judge, state and defense agreed Monday that they wanted a pool of 60 “good” candidates (not professional terms) before they start actually choosing jurors. At the end of Day 1, 46 of those candidates had been identified. The 30 new jurors who fill out the questionnaire Tuesday morning will either be excused, deemed “good”, or further questioned around 10AM when some of the potential candidates who weren’t questioned today because of time constraints are brought back. The hope is by 1 PM they will have the 60 candidates and start choosing the jury.

As with most cases, the judge has been warning potential jurors that they are not allowed to research the trial, speak about it with anyone, or even watch the news for concern that they will pick up information that could be biased or may not even be presented in court.

The judge has also decided to sequester the jurors, just as the judge during George Zimmerman’s high-profile trial did. In short, that means they will not return home until a verdict has been reached.

Judge Russell Healey has also decided to sequester jurors for the duration of the trial. He told the pool of potential jurors that he expects the trial- including jury selection- to last about two weeks. Sequestration will begin when the actual jury is seated. He expects each day of trial to last from about 9 AM to 5 PM, and jurors will be provided lodging, travel, food, etc. for their time being sequestered. I have put out a request to the State Attorney’s Office to see how much they expect the bill for that to cost, but they have deferred the question to the Clerk of Courts. We are awaiting that office’s response.

Questionnaires for jury selection continue today. We’ll keep you updated on the latest in the Dunn murder trial.

SOURCE: WOKV | PHOTO CREDIT: Facebook

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