A jury of 12 people has been sworn to hear the manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson’s former doctor Conrad Murray in Los Angeles.
The panel of seven men and five women includes one man who said he briefly met Jackson when he worked at Walt Disney Co in the 1980s and the singer was starring in a Captain EO film that was a Disney theme park attraction.
That juror has told lawyers he can approach the trial fairly.
The jurors have a wide range of professions, including a bookseller, school bus driver, paralegal and professor, according to questionnaires released after the selection.
Half of the panellists selected are Caucasian and five Hispanic.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor limited the amount of time lawyers for both sides could question potential jurors – and one prosecutor likened the process to “speed dating”.
He aimed to seat the panel quickly and stay on track to begin the trial’s opening arguments on Tuesday.
The selection is the culmination of weeks of close scrutiny of the jury pool.
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