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Six-Woman Jury Selected For Trial Of George Zimmerman

Six women have been selected for the trial of George Zimmerman, right, on second-degree murder charges in the death of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman was in court Thursday with his defense attorney, Mark O'Mara.
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Six women have been selected for the trial of George Zimmerman, right, on second-degree murder charges in the death of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman was in court Thursday with his defense attorney, Mark O'Mara.

A jury has been settled upon in the trial of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. The six-member panel is made up entirely of female jurors; five of them are white women, according to reports.

Attorneys in the trial finished questioning potential jurors around mid-day Thursday; they are also selecting four alternate jurors for the trial.

Update at 7 p.m. ET: Jury Sworn In:

With the jury seated and sworn in, opening statements in the trial are scheduled to begin Monday. Four alternate jurors were also chosen, from a potential pool of 40 jurors. Two women and two men make up the alternates.

Our original post continues:

As Jeff Weiner and Rene Stutzman write for The Orlando Sentinel, Zimmerman defense attorney Mark O'Mara and prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda have focused on potential jurors' perception of the case, their views on circumstantial evidence, and other questions.

De la Rionda questioned jurors Wednesday; when O'Mara took his turn today, he asked people in the jury pool how they viewed questions of reasonable doubt. He also discussed gun ownership and the Stand Your Ground law, reports Rachel Delinski of The Sanford Herald.

Zimmerman, 29, faces a charge of second-degree murder in the February 2012 death of Martin, 17. Jurors are expected to be sequestered for up to a month during the trial.

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Bill Chappell is a writer and editor on the News Desk in the heart of NPR's newsroom in Washington, D.C.
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