The first day of jury selection

On Thursday, the first session for selecting jurors for the trial of the Pop King’s involuntary manslaughter case, Michael Jackson, was held. On that day, Judge Michael Pastor asked a simple question of 159 ordinary people present in the courtroom: "How many of you have not heard anything about this case?" At first, silence prevailed, and then two people slowly raised their hands. Those two hands brought only one question to mind: how does the judge plan to keep his jury away from the noise and media frenzy? The judge warned: "Real cases aren’t television entertainment shows!" He asked them not to read blogs, not to search online news, and not even to get close to Twitter. The judge did not allow media cameras into the courtroom. Although during later trial sessions, this right will be returned to them. At the judge’s instruction, warnings were posted in the elevators and hallways of the courthouse to prevent reporters and photographers from trying to reach the jurors who were being selected. For the first time in this trial, the jurors were given lunch to prevent them from leaving before the end of the session. Six loyal Michael fans won tickets to enter the courtroom. Those who didn’t get the chance chanted against the defendant Murray outside the courtroom. At the end of the day, apologies were requested from 100 members. To the remaining group, a 29-page questionnaire was given with 125 questions about their favorite music, how they relate to their physicians, and their knowledge of prescription painkillers. One of the questions was whether they believed Murray to be innocent or guilty. By order of the judge, none of them was allowed to leave until they had turned in all of these forms. These questionnaires will provide information about their suitability to sit on the jury. The judge has agreed to make the empty questionnaires available to the media for public information. The first trial session for Murray will be on May 9, which corresponds to Monday, April 19. Source: eMJey.com / AP / msnbc.msn.com