11 jurors now selected for Dennis Oland's murder retrial in 2011 death of father

Eleven jurors for Dennis Oland's murder retrial have now been sworn in after a second day of jury selection wrapped up Tuesday in Saint John.

Fourteen jurors and two alternates are required for the retrial, which is expected to last about 16 weeks.

The process is scheduled to resume Wednesday at 9 a.m. with about 100 prospective jurors due to appear at the Saint John Law Courts building.

Oland, 50, is being retried for second-degree murder in the killing of his multimillionaire father Richard Oland, more than seven years ago.

He was convicted in December 2015, but the New Brunswick Court of Appeal overturned his conviction in October 2016, citing an error in the trial judge's instructions to the jury, and ordered a new trial.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Terrence Morrison is presiding.

• On mobile? Follow our live blog here

A woman was selected within the first hour of the proceedings getting underway at the courthouse Tuesday around 9:30 a.m., while two other women and three men were chosen in the afternoon from a panel of about 100 candidates.

Another man was also initially selected but is no longer a member of the jury for reasons that cannot be reported because of a publication ban.

On Monday, five jurors — two men and three women — were chosen from a panel of about 100.

Oland is sitting beside his defence lawyers throughout the selection process, consulting with them as each prospective juror is brought into the courtroom for consideration. On Tuesday, he wore a plum-coloured sweater, plaid shirt and olive pants.

His wife, Lisa Oland, and mother, Connie Oland, were present. During the afternoon, they were joined by his uncle Derek Oland, the executive chair of Moosehead Breweries Ltd., and brother of the victim.

Two weeks have been set aside for jury selection.

It's a multi-step process that gives prospective jurors an opportunity to ask the judge to be excused for reasons that could include knowing someone involved in the case, being the primary caregiver for a child under the age of 14, or concerns about suffering financial hardship while serving on the lengthy trial.

If they proceed to the second stage, they are individually questioned by the judge and their answers are scrutinized by two of their peers called triers, who deem them either acceptable or not to proceed to the next stage.

During the final stage, the Crown prosecutors and defence lawyers decide if they are "content" with a prospective juror or can reject them without stating a reason —  a so-called peremptory challenge.

Each party gets 16 peremptory challenges

Only people the Crown and defence are both content with are selected.

There is a publication ban on the questions asked, the answers given and the reasons anyone is excluded.

Morrison gave a "very stern warning" that anyone who divulges the questions to other members of the jury pool or posts them on social media will be brought before him and "placed in very serious jeopardy."

"That is how serious we take the fair selection of a jury," he said.

The jury pool consists of more than 1,000 people who answered summonses to appear Oct. 15 at Harbour Station, the city's largest arena.

They were divided into groups of 50 that day and assigned dates between Oct. 29 and Nov. 9 to attend court for possible selection.

Oland, a financial adviser, is accused of killing his 69-year-old father on or around July 6, 2011 in Saint John.

He has maintained his innocence from the beginning and his extended family has stood by him.