Three women and nine men were selected yesterday to sit on the jury panel for the Sept. 27 trial of Scott Paxson, the former Penn State football player who is charged with indecent assault.

The jury, which includes two male alternates, was selected after about 30 minutes of questioning from the prosecution and about five minutes from the defense.

The bulk of Centre County Assistant District Attorney Lance Marshall's questions concerned any relationship to Scott Paxson, conflicts with the case and media influence on any of the potential jurors. During pretrial hearings, media influence was a major concern of the prosecution.

On May 30, Centre County Judge Bradley Lunsford imposed a gag order on all parties involved in the case in an attempt to silence the media's coverage after Marshall filed a motion requesting an out-of-county jury or an out-of-county trial.

Marshall said biased and slanted media coverage provoked the motion.

Of about 40 selected for jury questioning, 20 people raised their hands to signal that they receive most of their news from either the Centre Daily Times or The Daily Collegian.

"Is there anything you read that caused you to form an opinion about this case?" Lunsford asked after Marshall explained the importance of the question. "It's human nature to form opinions when you read the paper. Has anyone here already formed an opinion that you cannot sway from?"

No one said they were influenced by any of the articles written, and three people said they had not heard anything about the case.

Paxson faces a felony charge of aggravated indecent assault and a misdemeanor charge of indecent assault in connection with the alleged assault of a former Penn State student in December 2004.

The woman alleged that Paxson had non-consensual vaginal intercourse with her and finger-penetrated her without her consent in his Nittany Apartments residence.

Lunsford threw out an earlier felony charge of sexual assault April 13, ruling that the commonwealth didn't present enough evidence to prove that the woman was opposed to having sex with Paxson.

Paxson's attorney, Joseph Amendola, asked if everyone understood that the accuser was not yet a victim, but a complainant in the case. He told the potential jurors that, unless Paxson was convicted of a crime, the woman was not a victim under the law. His second and final question was if anyone felt they could not be fair in the case.

Nobody in the jury pool signaled that they didn't understand the law, and no one said they felt they could not be fair.

Eight people asked to be excused from the jury, and Lunsford granted their requests.

Laughter roared through the courtroom as Marshall asked how many potential jurors had seen a Penn State football game in the last two years.

Sighs were cast as Marshall explained that an indecent assault case would be graphic and include pictures of the complainant's vagina after the alleged attack.

He said that anyone who may be uncomfortable with the words "penis," "vagina," and "penetration" should ask to be excused from the jury.

"We use penis and vagina like apples and oranges in a case like this," Marshall said.

No one raised their hand to indicate that graphic sexual content would make them uncomfortable.

The first woman to be excused from duty on the jury said her daughter is a nurse in the sexual assault clinic at Mount Nittany Medical Center, where the complainant was treated after the alleged incident.

No one said they had any personal knowledge of the case, were friends with or knew Paxson, the complainant, the sexual assault nurse who treated the complainant, or the State College police officers who handled case.