AUBURN – Seven men and seven women were chosen Tuesday as jurors for the trial of a Lisbon woman accused of shaking her adopted son to death.

Sarah Allen, 30, faces a charge of manslaughter in connection with the death of her 22-month-old son, Nathaniel, in February 2003.

Jury selection for her trial began Tuesday morning with Justice Ellen Gorman posing a series of questions to a pool of 96 potential jurors.

Later in the day, some were called to the judge’s chambers to speak with Gorman, defense attorney Verne Paradie and Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese.

The panel of 14, which includes 12 jurors and two alternates, was picked at 3:30 p.m.

Before letting them go for the day, Gorman instructed the jurors not to watch or read any news coverage of the case. She also told them not to talk about the case with each other or anyone else.

Attorneys on both sides will give their opening statements Tuesday morning. The trial is expected to last at least two weeks, with both sides calling a total of 35 to 45 witnesses.

The state is planning to call emergency medical technicians, hospital personnel, police officers and medical experts in making its case that Allen caused her son’s death by forcefully shaking him on Feb. 14, 2003.

Allen has denied the charge, insisting all along that she never abused her son. Her attorney will also call a series of medical experts to argue his case that the boy’s injuries were caused by something other than a violent shaking.

Sarah Allen and her husband, Jeremy, adopted Nathaniel from Guatemala in April 2002. He was their only son.

Jeremy Allen has been charged with assault for allegedly hitting the boy with a spatula days before the boy died. His trial was supposed to take place last month but it was rescheduled for June 28 after attorneys for both sides were unable to pick 14 impartial jurors from last month’s jury pool.

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