Well ahead of schedule, a jury was selected Wednesday for the child molestation trial of pop star Michael Jackson.
"We have a jury," Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville announced.
The panel consists of four men and eight women, ranging in age from 20 to 79. The racial and ethnic breakdown appeared to be: seven whites, four Hispanics and one Asian.
After the jury was sworn in, attorneys moved on to the selection of eight alternate jurors.
Jury selection had been expected to last several weeks, but took only five court days, which were interrupted by a one-week break due to the death of an attorney's sister and another one-week break because Jackson was hospitalized with flu-like symptoms.
Among the jurors were a woman who said her grandson was required to register as a sexual offender because of a crime; a woman who said she was related to the pilot of Flight 93, one of the planes that went down on Sept. 11; a 20-year-old man who likes "The Simpsons" TV show; and a man who is interested in Western art and country music.
One of the jurors had been asked during selection if he recognized celebrity witnesses in the case including self-help guru Deepak Chopra. He responded, "I think he's a rapper."
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