Twelve jurors and two alternates were chosen Wednesday to hear the trial of a Houston-area dentist charged with using her Mercedes-Benz to fatally run down her husband last summer.

Nine females and three males were chosen for the jury, while the two alternates are females, News2Houston reported.

Opening statements will begin Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

Clara Harris, 44, is charged with murdering her orthodontist husband, David Harris, 44, on the night of July 24 after a confrontation with him and his alleged mistress in the lobby of the Hilton Nasa Clear Lake, Nasa Road 1, in Nassau Bay.

Defense attorneys contend Clara Harris did not mean to run over her husband. Prosecutors say she intentionally struck him.

Potential jurors were asked a variety of questions, including how they felt about infidelity.

About two dozen of 73 potential jurors said yes Wednesday when prosecutor Mia Magness asked if anyone, particularly women, could emotionally relate to the defendant, Clara Harris.

"Any married woman can," one potential juror said.

When Magness asked the jurors," Is there anyone here who has already concluded this is sudden passion without hearing testimony?"

About a dozen jurors answered, "Yes."

"Is there anyone here who believes because he cheated he deserved it and had it coming?" Magness asked.

Two jurors, a man and a woman, replied, "Yes."

However, all of the jurors said that they could send Clara Harris to prison if they felt she deserved it, and if they had to.

If Harris is convicted and jurors decide she acted as a result of sudden passion, she could face two to 20 years in prison rather than a life sentence. Probation also is possible.

Sudden passion is legally defined as the following:

• Accused was provoked by the victim
• Crime happened at the time of the offense
• Provocation made an ordinary person so enraged that he or she was incapable of cool reflection

"Just like Mrs. Harris, the state of Texas needs fair and impartial jurors," Magness said, encouraging the potential jurors to speak their minds and be free with their opinions.

Defense attorney George Parnham spoke with jurors Wednesday afternoon.

He asked, "Do you believe, based on what you've heard so far, Clara Harris is guilty of something?"

The majority said, "Yes."

One potential juror said, "Based on what I've heard, I have reached a conclusion that she's guilty." The juror was dismissed.

Parnham also asked, "What do you think of this statement: Anytime someone kills, it's always murder?"

The majority of potential jurors disagreed.

When jury selection began Tuesday, some potential jurors said they were sympathetic to Clara Harris, while others said they thought she was guilty.

One female juror, who was excused from the panel Tuesday, told the judge she could relate to Harris, because "it was like the exact same thing that happened in my life," when she caught her husband cheating.