JAG CENTRAL

From NBC-TV 17 in Raleigh-Durham, NC:

Jury selection in the court-martial of Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar on Thursday focused on religion, the death penalty and mental health.

Akbar is charged with killing two officers in a 2003 grenade attack in Kuwait.

The chief prosecutor asked a member of the jury pool if his religious beliefs support his view of the death penalty, and the soldier responded, "Yes, they do."

When defense lawyers asked one of the potential jurors about Muslims, the soldier said he didn't have close friends who were Muslim but considered himself pretty fair-minded. He also said he thought some members of that faith interpret it the way they want to.

Testimony is scheduled to start Monday after lawyers reduce a pool of 20 soldiers into the panel of 12 that will hear the case. Nearly half the pool, mostly officers and high-ranking sergeants, had been questioned by mid-morning Thursday.