The jury in the trial of accused murder mom CASEY ANTHONY was to be seated today but lawyers thwarted an attempt by the judge by last minute challenges.
Jury selection for the sensational murder trial is being held in the Tampa Bay area because of intense pretrial publicity in Orlando.
Anthony has already pleaded not guilty in the death of her daughter, Caylee, 2, claiming an imaginary baby sitter kidnapped the child..
Anthony, 25, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter Caylee, whose decomposed remains were discovered with duct tape over the mouth of her skull December 2008 close to where she had lived with her mother.
Casey faces the death penalty, if convicted..
Once selected, the jury will get one day off before transferring them to Orlando to be sequestered for an expected eight-week trial.
Both prosecution and defense attorneys each exercised preempt challenges Tuesday keeping the selection process moving forward, despite starting the day with 17 prospects that had passed the three rounds.
Questions focused on prospective jurors' exposure to pretrial publicity, potential hardships of a prolonged trial spent away from their families and personal beliefs concerning the death penalty.
Just as Judge Perry was about to call a dozen jurors be sworn-in, the defense team used its sixth challenge on a woman who has a 2-year-old child, eliminating her and reducing the juror pool down to 11.
A clearly frustrated Perry rebuked both attorneys that the pool of unquestioned jurors was rapidly shrinking.
"Both sides, you do realize these are the only jurors we have," Perry said.
Casey’s defense attorney Jose Baez then objected to not being able to view the remaining pool of prospects questioned only about personal hardships because of serving jury duty. Perry denied THAT objection.
When jury selection process began, Judge Perry indicated he wanted 20 total jurors, with alternates. But he has since said justice may have to settle for less.
"The magic number is I have to have this thing complete," Perry said at the end of court.
Insiders expect the final juror to be selected and opening arguments to begin tomorrow.
