A week after the Kellon Hill murder trial began, the painstaking process of picking a jury was set to continue today.

The case in which five teenagers are accused of killing the 18-year-old as he left a late-night party at Elbow Beach last August has been hampered by jury selection problems.

A panel of 12 was initially sworn in last Thursday, two days after the case began. However, Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons was forced to discharge the jury that same day, after one member revealed he knew the mother of one of the defendants.

Yesterday, the lengthy process of picking a panel with no prejudicial links to the accused, their families, the deceased, his family, or any of the lawyers or witnesses in the case continued for the fifth day running.

By mid-morning, 12 potential jurors and ten "spares" had been selected, after various other members of the pool were rejected. One was told to stand down by the judge since she works in a shop frequented by one of the defence lawyers. Another was told to stand down because she knows the fiancee of another defence lawyer. Others told the judge they had been taught by Daniel Hill, the victim's father, who is an educator.

Mrs. Justice Simmons hopes to find five more spare potential jurors when proceedings resume this morning, bringing the total number on stand-by to 15. That's because each of the five defendants will next have the right to reject up to three members of the panel without giving a reason.

The youths accused of murdering Mr. Hill, a former Bermuda Institute student, are Kellan Jeaurreau Lewis, 17, Kevin Andre Warner, 19, Gary Rupert Hollis, 16, Devon Vonzel Hairston, 18, and Zharrin Frankie Simmons, 17. Lewis alone is accused of unlawfully possessing a bladed article in a public place, with the others facing individual charges of possessing offensive weapons. Warner is said to have had a wooden cane, Hollis and Hairston allegedly had crash helmets, and Simmons a screwdriver. They deny all the charges.

The judge sent the potential jurors home overnight yesterday to mull on any possible connections they could have to the case or the parties involved, which include a list of almost 50 prosecution witnesses.

In a reference to the fact that proceedings have been aborted once already, she warned: "To bring a matter to my attention after you have been sworn in as a juror has dire consequences." However, the judge added that she hoped evidence can get underway some time today, in a trial slated to last six to eight weeks.