Let's Get 7 in IELTS

Jury selection is under way at a court in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the trial of former US football star OJ Simpson.

Mr Simpson was arrested last September for allegedly robbing at gunpoint two sports memorabilia dealers in a hotel.

He faces 12 charges including assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and burglary. If found guilty he could face life in prison.

Mr Simpson, 61, and his co-defendant, Clarence Stewart, 54, have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Mr Simpson's legal team has said he was trying to retrieve stolen memorabilia that belonged to him from a Las Vegas hotel and has denied that any guns were involved.

Polarising figure

Arriving at the Clark County Regional Justice Center, Mr Simpson declined to answer reporters' questions, but smiled and waved when someone called out "Good luck!"

Prosecutors, defence lawyers and District Judge Jackie Glass have used 26-page questionnaires to identify jurors with biases and cut the pool from 500 to fewer than 250 candidates.

Selecting the 12-member panel and four alternatives could take a week or longer, court officials said.

Some legal experts wonder if Mr Simpson's notorious past - instead of the facts - may decide the case, the BBC's Rajesh Mirchandani in Los Angeles reports.

In 1995, in what was billed as America's trial of the century, Mr Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Later he was found liable for the deaths in a civil case and ordered to pay millions to Mr Goldman's family.

Mr Simpson has remained a polarising figure in American popular culture ever since, our correspondent says.

Jury 【律】陪審團  (競賽等的)評審委員會
court 法庭,法院;(開)庭
trial 審問,審判  試;試用;試驗
allegedly 據傳說,據宣稱
memorabilia 值得紀念的事物;重要記事
dealers 業者,商人 發牌者 行為者
assault 攻擊;襲擊
deadly 致命的,致死的;毒性的
kidnapping 誘拐,綁架
burglary夜盜  破門盜竊;搶劫
guilty 有罪的,犯...罪的  有過失的
co-defendant共同被告
retrieve 挽回;彌補;挽救;糾正
Prosecutors檢察官,公訴人  原告,起訴人
defence 【律】被告[U]
jurors 誠實回答宣誓
biases 偏見,成見;偏心
pool 共同資金;共用物
panel 陪審員名單
notorious 惡名昭彰的,聲名狼藉的
acquitted 宣告...無罪,無罪釋放