George Zimmerman Trial: Jury of six women empaneled, four alternates chosen
UPDATED 3:16 p.m. ET (CBS/AP) SANFORD, Fla. -A jury of six people and four alternates have been chosen in the case against George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch captain accused in the shooting death of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin. All six jurors are women. Four alternates have also been chosen.
PICTURES: George Zimmerman in court
READ: Trayvon Martin Shooting: A timeline of events
The jurors include five white women and one Hispanic woman, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The alternates include two women and two men, reports the paper.
Attorneys on Thursday completed questioning of 40 potential jurors - whittling down from a pool of hundreds of candidates - about their views on guns, neighborhood safety, and the right of citizens to defend themselves. Zimmerman, 29, claims that he was defending himself when he shot Martin, 17, during an altercation in the Sanford, Fla. gated community where he lived in February of 2012.
Jury selection in the case launched last Monday, and attorneys on Wednesday began asking more in-depth questions of the 40 that advanced to the next round.
Court resumed at 2 p.m. Thursday after a lunch break, and the defense team and prosecutors began striking potential jurors from the pool.
Earlier Thursday, several potential jurors described their experiences with violent crime as they responded to questions by Zimmerman attorney Mark O'Mara. One woman said her nephew had been shot and killed during a home invasion 13 years ago. A man said he had been involved in a fight, a woman said she had been the victim of violence after her boyfriend broke into her home, and another woman said the restaurant where she worked had been robbed twice.
The potential jurors were also asked about self-defense and Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law, which allows citizens to use deadly force without retreating in locations outside their home where they may lawfully be.
"I feel that if you're somewhere where you're supposed to be, allowed to be, and you get attacked, that you should be able to defend yourself," one potential juror said.
Another potential juror, however, said he didn't agree with the "stand your ground" law when it was first proposed several years ago. The same candidate said he opposed concealed-carry weapons permits.
"It's a 'Wild,Wild West' type of thing," the potential juror said. "I don't want to live in a place where people are just walking around with guns."
When O'Mara questioned the group about how they would feel if he was carrying a loaded firearm, several people said they would be "concerned."
"I don't know you, I don't know how responsible you are with it," one candidate said.
When asked how he would feel if he knew the carrier had a permit, he said, "I feel a little better. But I still don't know you."
Complete coverage of the George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin case on Crimesider
