Attorneys entered a fourth day of jury selection Thursday in the George Zimmerman trial, just 10 jurors shy of being able to advance to the next round of questioning.
Over the past three days, attorneys have grilled two dozen potential jurors as they look to whittle down the pool of hundreds of potential jurors to just six, plus four alternates, who will decide the fate of Zimmerman, a Florida neighborhood watch captain.
Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
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Attorneys need 30 potential jurors to get past the initial round of interviews so they can ask them more in-depth questions about their views and life experiences. Four potential jurors were dismissed Wednesday, raising the total number of jury candidates who have been disqualified to 75.
Attorneys had interviewed 24 potential jurors by the end of the third day of selection, including 10 Wednesday. A total of 20 have been held over for the next round of questioning.
Among those interviewed was a white man in his 20s who left the courtroom without being asked questions by defense attorneys after he gave answers to prosecutors indicating he wouldn't be impartial. The juror, known as R-39 because potential panelists can be identified only by their numbers, said that "murder is murder," even if it's self-defense. Zimmerman, 29, is pleading not guilty to second-degree murder, claiming he shot Martin in self-defense.
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The case has sparked national interest, and one potential juror even suggested to attorneys that they're going to have a hard time finding jurors who haven't heard about the case and can only hope they find residents who can keep an open mind.
"I haven't lived under a rock for the past year," said a potential juror, known as Juror B-51. "It's pretty hard for people not to have gotten some information."
Judge Debra Nelson has said she will keep the identities of the selected jurors anonymous, but she rejected a defense request to sequester the initial jury pool of 500 residents.
After Wednesday's courtroom session had ended, Martin's father, Tracy Martin, said his family felt good so far about the jury selection process.
"We are encouraged as a family that we can get justice for our son Trayvon, and we expect the public to come forth and be honest as potential jurors," Tracy Martin said.
"Trayvon Martin is not on trial here, he is the victim. George Zimmerman, his killer, is the man who is on trial," Martin family attorney Ben Crump said at a short press conference.
Crump also took issue with a comment made by former New York City police detective Harry Houck Tuesday on a FoxNews.com live panel, in which he said that Martin would still be alive if he hadn't had a "street attitude."
"This comment is reprehensible and extremely reminiscent of the victim-blaming rhetoric we saw a year ago," Crump said.
Zimmerman admitted to shooting Martin in the chest with his 9-mm. handgun after calling police, exiting his pickup truck to follow Martin, and then getting into a fight with the teenager on a rainy night inside a gated community in Sanford, Fla., on February 12, 2012.
But Zimmerman also says the teen circled back and attacked him as he walked back to his truck – punching him in the face and slamming the back of his head into the sidewalk.
Photographs taken that night show Zimmerman with a broken nose, bruises and bloody cuts on the back of his head.
Zimmerman could face life in prison if convicted on second-degree murder charges. He claims he shot Martin in self-defense. A 44-day delay in Zimmerman's arrest led to protests around the United States.
Protesters questioned whether the Sanford Police Department was seriously investigating the case of Martin, a black teen from the Miami area. Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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