Selecting a 12-person jury for the Michael Jackson child molestation trial in Santa Maria, California, was supposed to take weeks. It only took 5 days?court days that is. There were two week-long delays?one because Jackson was ill, the other because of the death of his lawyer’s sister.

Four men and eight women will serve on the jury. Hundreds were interviewed and experts predicted the jury selection would extend into March.

Eight alternates still need to be chosen, but it should not take long.

Jackson was released from hospital last week after he fell ill with the flu.

There are no black people on the jury, which ranges in age from 20 to 79. Seven are white, four are Hispanic and one is Asian.

Jackson has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts relating to alleged incidents that occurred in the past two years at his California Neverland Ranch.






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