Ten more potential jurors were questioned Wednesday on the third day in the George Zimmerman murder trial for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford.
In the last three days, a total of 24 jurors have faced a preliminary round of questioning from jurors on both sides.
Of those, 20 have been retained. Lawyers are looking for 30 jurors to choose from when they seat a jury of six, plus at least two alternates.
See a complete recap online of Day 3 of Jury Selection.
Lawyers questioned 10 potential jurors Wednesday. Four were dismissed, making a three-day total of 75 dismissed jurors.
A lot of the talk Wednesday centered around the protests in Sanford when Zimmerman was not arrested in the days after Trayvon Martin's death.
"It was clearly a volatile issue, and that's what was riveting," said Juror E-22. She told proescutor Bernie de la Rionda that she, herself, had not participated in any of the marches.
In this first round of jury selection, attorneys are very interested in how media coverage, especially coverage of those protests, may have shaped potential jurors' thoughts and opinions.
Another juror, E-73, said she recalls the Rev. Al Sharpton being involved in the protests. De la Rionda asked the juror how she felt about the protests.
"I think I thought that there were not the racial overtones in the actual event, that the national media want to make it because of Sanford's past," the juror said.
Many people in Sanford said the Zimmerman case has given the city a negative image. One juror Wednesday said she didn't appreciate that, but attorneys want to make sure that perception doesn't cloud the minds of jurors, whom they want remain unbiased.
Despite the intense media coverage of the case, the protests and what a few jurors considered a slanted portrayal of alleged racial profiling, most jurors said they would be able to keep an open mind.
But one juror, R-39, said he probably couldn't, telling de la Rionda he believed that "murder is murder," even in self-defense. He was one of the four people dismissed Wednesday.
Another juror, E-7, was brought back into the courtroom after it was found that he made some sort of comment on Facebook in March. That was when the jury summons went out, but the judge did not get into detail what was in the comment.
At the beginning of Wednesday's proceedings, Judge Debra Nelson asked Zimmerman, himself, to stand up, and asked him if he understood the questioning lawyers were conducting. Zimmerman said he did.
The judge did this to make sure Zimmerman was agreeing to everything his lawyers are doing, so he can't try to appeal later by claiming he was not in line with his defense team.
Martin family calls out former cop's comment
Shortly after court ended Wednesday, Trayvon Martin's parents and their attorneys made a statement in a neighboring courtroom:
"Today, on the third day of the jury selection in the Trayvon Martin murder trial, we are inspired by the honesty of the potential jurors. Their answers have been forthright, and we have faith that the justice system and the members of the public who are selected for the jury will perform their civic duty in a fair and impartial manner.
Yesterday, former NYPD detective Harry Houck commented to Fox that Trayvon would be alive today if he didn't have a 'street attitude.' This comment, made on a live panel, is reprehensible and extremely reminiscent of the victim-blaming rhetoric we saw a year ago.
We all know Trayvon Martin was an unarmed teenager, who'd just bought Skittles and a tea on a chilly Florida evening in February. George Zimmerman was an armed adult who followed Trayvon down a street, pursued him and then shot him.
We are calling on the media to refuse to perpetuate victim-blaming and irresponsible characterizations of Trayvon. The evidence shows there is no blood on Trayvon's hands. Trayvon is not on trial here, he is the victim. Trayvon's killer, George Zimmerman, is the man who is on trial."
Houck's comment was made in an online chat hosted by Fox News regarding the George Zimmerman trial.