Fla. newlywed Dalia Dippolito uses reality TV defense in murder-for-hire trial

(CBS/WPEC) WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A six-person jury has been selected and opening statements began Tuesday in the trial of Dalia Dippolito, a Florida woman accused of hiring an undercover police officer to kill her husband.

Prosecutors gave the jurors a preview of what they will see and hear, including what they say is the conversation between Dippolito and the undercover Boynton Beach police officer that she hired as a hit man, reports CBS affiliate WPEC.

"He asks her, 'Are you sure you want to kill him?' Without hesitation, as if she had ice running through her veins, she says, 'There's no changing. I'm determined already. I'm positive. I'm 5000 percent sure," the prosecutor said.

The defense claims her husband Michael Dippolito was a fan of reality TV and this "hoax" was a way for him to get in front of the cameras.

"The evidence will show that the plot for the contract killing of Mike Dippolito was never real," the defense told jurors, reports the station.

Dahlia Dippolito was charged with solicitation to commit first-degree murder after police set up an elaborate sting to catch her. She reportedly offered to pay $1200 for the hit man to buy a handgun, reports the station.

The couple was married for six months when she was charged in August 2009. Dippolito faces up to 30 years in prison.

Authorities staged an elaborate crime scene outside the Dippolito home, complete with yellow crime tape and several police vehicles. Officers then contacted Dippolito at her gym and told her to come to the house. When an officer told Dippolito that her husband was dead, Dippolito was caught on tape breaking down in tears.

Complete coverage of Dahlia Dippolito on Crimesider