Marmolejo Retrial: Jury Selected, Opening Statements To Begin

It took much longer than anyone expected, but the jury is set in David Marmolejo’s murder retrial taking place in San Antonio.

They will decide if he is guilty of strangling his mother in July 2009.

Seven men and seven women will sit in the jurors’ box – two of them will be alternates, but which ones remains a mystery.

Judge Gonzalo Garcia refused to point out the alternates, saying not even the jurors will know who will serve as an alternate.

He says that’s to ensure that all jurors pay attention throughout the trial.

More than 70 potential jurors arrived at the Justice Center in Downtown San Antonio at 10 a.m. Monday morning.

Once the jury was picked, opening statements were supposed to last well into Monday evening.

But because jury selection lasted six hours — twice as long as expected — Garcia said opening statements would begin Tuesday morning instead.

Tge group of 14 was given specific instructions not to look up any details about the case and was told that they could only post Facebook and Twitter updates that stated they were on jury duty.

Marmolejo was in the courtroom throughout jury selection. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.