For the first time since jury selection began in the George Zimmerman trial, his family has shown up in court to support him.
Zimmerman's parents, Robert and Gladys, along with his sister, Gracie, were in court Wednesday morning as jury selection entered the second round of questioning with a pool of 40 potential jurors, from which six jurors and four alternates will be selected to decide if Zimmerman committed second-degree murder when he shot Trayvon Martin last year.
Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda spent Wednesday asking the jurors about their experiences with crime and other criminal cases; if they own any guns or other weapons; if they've ever been part of a neighborhood watch; if they have relatives in law enforcement; and if they've ever watched shows like "CSI."
Follow LIVE UPDATES online from Day 8 of jury selection.
Wednesday marked the first time Zimmerman's mother and sister have been identified in public since the case began. The last time we saw his father, Robert Zimmerman Sr., was almost a year ago, on June 29, 2012, for George's second bond hearing.
George's brother, Robert Zimmerman Jr., was not in court Wednesday, but sent us the following message to our own Ybeth Bruzual:
"Our parents: Mr. & Mrs. Zimmerman, along with our sister, are in court today supporting George. Despite safety considerations, the time was right to do what they could to visibly advocate for George's innocence.
Our parents have avoided showing their face on camera because of numerous death threats directed at our entire family. Our parents have served as primary caretakers for our grandmother, Cristina, for years. Alzheimer's disease has left her requiring round-the-clock care and supervision. I am happy to care for our grandmother, as George, our sister and I were raised largely with her help and consider her a parent.
Going forward, security and other concerns are paramount, and our periodic absence from court should not be misinterpreted as a withdrawal of support. Our position as a family has been clear and consistent since the night George was attacked: We are all sympathetic to the tragic reality of outliving a son or daughter, however, George acted in self-defense. Self-defense should not be criminalized, and we stand by George, because he told the truth.
Robert Zimmerman Jr.
@rzimmermanjr"
Forty chairs were set up in and around the jury box for this round of what's called "traditional voir dire" questioning.
Each side of the case has 10 peremptory challenges, or "strikes," that can be used to get rid of a potential juror. If both sides use all 10 of theirs, that would leave 20 jurors from which to choose 10 for a jury of six, plus four alternates. In Florida, a full jury of 12 is only required for criminal trials involving capital cases, when the death penalty is being considered.
Court began later than expected Wednesday, shortly after 9:30 a.m., because Judge Debra Nelson said one of the jurors was running late. Once they had all arrived, the judge read the formal charge of second-degree murder against Zimmerman.
"The object is to obtain a jury who will impartially try this case based on the evidence presented in the courtroom," Nelson told the jurors.
Trayvon Martin's death prompted public outrage around the nation, with some accusing Sanford police of failing to investigate the shooting thoroughly from the beginning because of Martin's race, and because he was from the Miami area.
Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda then started asking individual jurors a series of questions, including how long they have lived in Florida; whether they supervised workers; their hobbies; if they had previously served on juries; if they're married; and what their spouses did for a living.
He also warned jurors that they would have to forget about anything they knew about the case previously and base their information only on what they heard in the courtroom.
"What you heard and saw anywhere outside the courtroom can't factor into your decision," de la Rionda said. "What you saw on TV, or on the Internet, or read or what the media said is completely irrelevant."
Twenty-six of the 40 potential jurors appear to be white, seven are black, four are mixed race and three are Hispanic. Twenty-four are women and 16 are men.
The potential jurors shared personal details about their lives during Wednesday's questioning. Several were involved with rescuing animals, and the pool included a competitive arm-wrestler and a man who enters barbecue competitions.
The racial and ethnic makeup of potential jurors is relevant, prosecutors say. They have have argued that Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer for his gated community in Sanford, profiled Trayvon Martin when he followed the black teen last year as Martin was walking back from a convenience store to the house of his father's fiancee.
Zimmerman, 29, is charged with second-degree murder. He is pleading not guilty, claiming self-defense.
The 40 potential jurors represent a cross-section of Seminole County residents from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds who have varying levels of familiarity with the case's basic facts.
Through an initial round of interviews that included questions focused on pretrial exposure to the case via the news media or other means, lawyers were able to find a group of potential jurors who said they could focus on testimony provided in the courtroom.
Nelson said attorneys for both the prosecution and the state would be allowed to ask much broader questions in the second round than they did in the first.
Nelson said last week that once pared down, the final jury would be sequestered throughout the trial to protect it from outside influence.
A white man in his 50s who described previously serving on a jury said he enjoyed the experience.
"Everybody hear that?" de la Rionda asked the jurors with a smile.
"It was one day. We weren't sequestered," the juror shot back.