SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The judge in the Michael Jackson molestation case ended the first stage of jury selection a day early, in part because of a surprisingly large number of prospective jurors who said they were willing to serve.
Santa Barbara County Judge Rodney S. Melville said roughly 250 of the 430 prospects screened Monday and Tuesday were willing to serve during the six-month trial.
He called off plans to interview 300 prospects Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, saying there were plenty of people who could serve on the panel of 12 and eight alternates.
"I think we have enough jurors," Melville said.
Individual questioning of the prospects was to begin Monday.
Trial watchers said the jury selection process had been sped along by the high percentage of prospects who had no objections to serving.
"Normally when you have a trial where judges estimate six months, you're gonna get two-thirds, three-quarters or more saying they can't do it for one reason or another," said Michael Brennan, a law professor at the University of Southern California.
"There are going to be some people who want to be on this jury, just for the notoriety. Some of these people are going to end up at the end of the day making some money," he said.
Tuesday's session began on a much lower key than Monday as he arrived and entered court in a black suit with gold and red stripes down the pant legs.
Jackson smiled Tuesday as he rose to face the potential jurors. He took notes on a yellow legal pad as Melville questioned prospects about hardships they would face if required to serve.
Melville listened to brief descriptions of each person's hardship and rarely asked any follow-up questions, merely saying, "All right, thank you." It appeared that he granted most of the requests to serve on shorter trials.
Also seeking to be excused were full-time students, a man who said he had to train horses for upcoming equestrian shows and a Navy seaman who didn't know if he would be paid during jury service.
Lawyers will review the remaining prospects' written questionnaires to see if both sides can agree on which prospects should be removed before beginning intensive questioning in court Monday.