DUNWOODY, Ga. — Jury selection has started in the murder re-trial of Hemy Neuman.
Neuman was convicted of killing his alleged mistress's husband -- Rusty Sneiderman -- in 2010.
From start to finish, prosecutors are estimating the trial will take about three and a half weeks. They told Channel 2’s Nicole Carr that the plan is to wrap up jury selection by Friday and start by opening statements in the high-profile case by Monday
outside a Dunwoody daycare center.
One-by-one, a daily pool of 40 jurors was questioned about their capacity to make sound decisions in the re-trial for Neuman.
[ In 2012, Neuman was found guilty, but mentally ill, in the shooting death of Sneiderman ]
Sneiderman wife and Neuman's alleged mistress,
[ Andrea Sneiderman, is now out of jail after serving time for a perjury conviction. ]
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A recent state Supreme Court ruling brings us to 2016.The court finding Neuman's mental health records should have never been entered into evidence, while a handful of potential jurors were dismissed by early Monday afternoon for a range of personal reasons.
“I remember seeing a lot of the original case on the news,” one juror said on the stand Monday.
There was no doubt the case's high profile nature was an automatic disqualifier for some people.
“Do you think you think you can set that aside, listen to the evidence and make a fair decision based on that, or do you think you're going to be thinking about what you saw on TV?” prosecutors asked one potential juror.
“No, I'm pretty ... I remember all the stuff I heard,” the juror said.
One of those people calling the re-trial a "nightmare" is attorney Esther Panitch, who represented Neuman's former wife since the beginning.
“This is the most dreadful case of deja vu I've ever had,” Panich told Carr.
Panitch said she never thought she'd see the day Neuman would get the benefit of another jury trial.
"It's an awful thing to have to go through it again, and I'm just one of the lawyers. I can't imagine what it's like for the victims who have to re-live this,” Panich said.
Panitch has long represented Neuman's former wife, who found herself in the middle of a firestorm when Neueman was arrested, charged and eventually found guilty, but mentally ill, in the trial of Sneiderman’s killing.
Sneiderman's family sat in the back of the courtroom Monday observing jury selection. While they are under a court order not to speak about the case, Panitch said the ex-Mrs. Neuman is in a better place.
“But this brings it all back and re-opens old wounds, of course,” Panich said.