Jury selection began Monday in Orlando in the murder trial of Michael Hernandez, who is accused of slashing a classmate in a Southwood Middle School four years ago.

Hernandez's trial was moved to Orlando after too many potential jurors in Miami said they knew details of the case from the local media coverage.

Circuit Judge John Schlesinger heard several pretrial motions early Monday before bringing in the first panel of 50 potential jurors.

The question jurors will have to consider in Hernandez's murder trial is: Was Hernandez so mentally ill when he slashed and stabbed a schoolmate in the bathroom of a middle school that he shouldn't be held responsible for his friend's slaying?

When Hernandez killed Jaime Gough -- and his attorney is not disputing that he did -- the two boys were just 14, both students at Southwood Middle School. The case made headlines around the state and many of the potential jurors in Miami said they followed the coverage closely.

Some recalled specific details of the gory slaying -- Hernandez slashed Jaime's throat and stabbed him several times, then went to his first-period class as if nothing had happened.

Prosecutors offered Hernandez a deal last week: 40 years in prison in exchange for a guilty plea. Rosenbaum urged him to take the deal, but Hernandez turned it down, preferring to take his case to a jury.

Many prospective jurors said they thought Hernandez, now 18, was guilty based on what they had seen on television and read in newspapers. Some said they didn't believe insanity should be a defense for murder, a common problem for attorneys using that argument.

''In essence, what you're trying to convince a jury is that this person didn't know right from wrong when he committed the acts,'' said veteran defense attorney Manuel Casabielle.

That is often hard to do, and may be especially daunting for Hernandez's attorney, Richard Rosenbaum, because Hernandez said during his confession he knew that killing Jaime was wrong.

In the chilling, hours-long statement, Hernandez laid out in almost clinical detail how he lured Jaime into a bathroom, slashed his throat and then stabbed him several times on Feb. 2, 2004. He even checked to make sure Jaime was dead.

Rosenbaum also could try to prove that Hernandez is so mentally ill that he couldn't control his actions, even if he knew they were wrong. But that legal standard for insanity also can be difficult for a jury to stomach.

''I think most people would agree that there are some types of illnesses and some types of brain injuries that are so severe that a person is less responsible for being able to control their behavior,'' said Dr. Ewald Horwath, vice chairman of the psychiatry department at the University of Miami's Miller Medical School.

`HUGE ISSUE'

''A huge issue in this case will be to what extent is this young man mentally ill, and to what extent did his mental illness play a role in what he did, and how much is he responsible for his own actions?'' he added.

Although Hernandez has denied that he hears voices in his head, notations in his journal -- which is part of the court record -- suggest he may have believed he was getting advice from a coin and the family dog.

Rosenbaum is planning to bring in three mental health experts who believe that Hernandez met the legal definition of insanity when he killed Jaime.

But the state takes the opposite position. Jurors will hear from experts brought in by the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office who believe Hernandez does have a mental illness, but that he doesn't meet the legal standard of insanity.

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