FARGO - Jury selection for the trial of a man accused in the death of college student Dru Sjodin is on pace to last at least three weeks.

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 53, a convicted sex offender from Crookston, Minn., is charged with kidnapping resulting in the death Sjodin, 22, a University of North Dakota student. He has pleaded not guilty.

Court officials are looking to fill a pool of 70 possible jurors before naming the final panel. Four people were added to the pool on Wednesday, for a total of 14 potential jurors.

The first week of jury selection is scheduled to wind up Thursday. U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson said he expects to review 17 candidates "if we're lucky."

Lawyers continued to argue about the line of questioning by defense attorney Richard Ney. U.S Attorney Drew Wrigley repeated an earlier complaint that Ney was trying to "plant a seed" in jurors' minds about possible penalties in the case.

Ney responded that he doesn't want jurors to have a "deer in the headlights" look if the case goes to deliberations over the death penalty.

If convicted, Rodriguez could be sentenced to death or to life in prison without parole. Prosecutors have said they would seek the death penalty.

Erickson plans to take Fridays off through most of the trial. A hearing on forensic evidence originally scheduled for this Friday has been postponed to July 28.

Once the final panel of 16 jurors is seated, the trial is expected to last about six weeks, Wrigley said Wednesday.

Sjodin, of Pequot Lakes, Minn., disappeared from a Grand Forks shopping mall in November 2003. Her body was found the following April in a ravine near Crookston.

Sjodin's father, Allan, and her mother, Linda Walker, have attended most of the court hearings. Walker missed Wednesday's proceedings to be with her husband, Sid, who was injured when he fell off a ladder.