SANFORD, Fla. – After Day 5 of Jury Selection defense attorney Mark O'Mara held a news conference.
These are the highlights:
*O'Mara also plans to ask the Judge to keep the identities of jurors a secret for 6 months after the trial.
*Audio-expert hearing is Monday at 4pm (Frye Hearing)
(Defense has one more California-based expert and estimates that person would take three hours.)
*He expects by Tuesday they will have a pool of 40 potential jurors which launches Round 2 of jury selection which is a group setting with broader questions. Note: all 40 would have already been questioned individually on pre-trial publicity, what they already know about case and possible opinions formed through media exposure.
O'Mara:"I know it's slow-going to the outside it's not slow-going to the inside. Those of us who have done this before and know the process and how it needs to happen I think its working out pretty well."
George Zimmerman Defense Attorney Mark O'Mara thinks his client is "encouraged" by the process because, "finally its on its way. He's been waiting for 16 months for this process to start and its certainly looking very forward to a resolution to it and an acquittal. So he's enthused that we are going on the other hand now it is real and now it is very stressful, preparation is great but now we're in it so I think its a little bit of both."
County Clerk confirms:
*28 potential jurors from 5 days of individual questioning on pre-trial publicity will be back on Tuesday with strict orders from the Judge *not* to discuss case.
NOTE: Of the 28 potential jurors 23 are from Jury Selection Days 1-4 and 5 are from Day 5.