three men have been chosen to decide the fate of travers and tremaine johnson. the prosecution is hoping to get a guilty verdict the second time around but the defense insists their clients are innocent. after almost two days of selection from a pool of more than 200 jurors, a jury is finally seated thursday afternoon in the retrial of twin brothers tavis and jermaine johnson who are now 20 years old. in late may of 2009, the then- 17-year-old set of people on fire with an unknown flammable liquid. phoenix would die several days later at a pennsylvania animal hospital. the twins were put on trial on -- in february of 2011 but the jury could not reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared. in opening statements, prosecuting attorneys explain the evidence in the case would prove the brothers set phoenix on fire. this evidence would include a video surveillance showing them running from the crime scene. to witness accounts linking them to the crime scene, and clothing that one of the brothers should it was wearing when he was arrested in was the same one he was wea

travers and tremaine johnson were convicted. that case drew outrage and has helped spark calls for tougher and you'll -- animal cruelty laws. jury selection will begin. the case must rule on certain evidence the defense wants excluded. >> another gop presidential candidate will make his way to maryland for the april primary. newt gingrich is set to visit the state house tomorrow. he is expected to meet with area business leaders. maryland has been drawing more attention than usual. blas derica, mitt romney came before a town hall meeting. also ron paul is expected to drop in on wednesday. a 7e told the meetings are pm >> today was the first of three days the u.s. supreme court will hear arguments. 26 states sent to have president obama's lahud declared unconstitutional. >> it violates the fundamental reason -- nature of the relationship between the government and a citizen. >> to look -- two-thirds say they want the health reform turnout. >> this is not a revenue making measure. this is keeping it simple. nobody will pay the pen

. >> reporter: the second trial against 20-year-old twin brothers travers and tremain johnson, is under way. the brothers are accused of dousing this young pit bull, nicknamed phoenix, with gasoline, then setting her on fire in may 2009. the dog burned so badly, it had to be euthanized. the johnsons' first trial in the case ended last february with a hung jury and sparked national outrage. partly why it took several hours hours to seat a new one. nine women and three men who are unfamiliar with what happened. legal expert steven silverman says the prosecution almost always wins a retrial. the prosecutor in this case, the state of maryland, learns from the mistakes they made, has probably spoken to the sole juror who hung, and they are able to address the concerns of that juror. >> reporter: during opening statements, the lead prosecutor told jurors the johnsons torched the puppy. she said within minutes, the little dog was engulfed in flames, most of her body on fire, screaming, jumping, crying out in pain, left to die in the street. but defense attorneys insist the johnsons are scapego

baltimore city twin brothers, travis and tremain johnson were already tried once in the case, but last february, it was a hung jury. a single holdout could not be convince convinced they were guilty. >> we hope there is a good verdict in this case. but either way, this case has brought enormous attention to animal abuse here in our city. and we'll be here. >> reporter: the case led the city to form an anti-animal abuse task force. the first of its kind in the country, with phoenix as its face. that publicity and widespread outrage is expected to be a challenge in court. the judge called for a pool with 80 potential jurors, 40 more than usual. he expects many will be disqualified because they already know about what happened. once a jury is seated, members will see much of the same evidence during the first trial, including surveillance video defense attorneys tried to have thrown out earlier this week. the 35-minute tape was critical for prosecutors. it shows clips from a police camera at the scene. >> reporter: the most serious charge the johnsons face is animal cruelty, a felony that

. >> reporter: this second trial against 20-year-old twin brothers, travers and tremain johnson, is under. the brothers are accused of dousing this young pit bull, nicknamed phoenix, with gasoline. then setting her on fire in may 2009. the dog burned so badly, had to be euthanized. the johnsons' first trial in the case ended last february with a hung jury and sparked national outrage. partly why it took several hours to see a new one. nine women and three men who are unfamiliar with what happened. legal expert, steve silverman says the prosecution almost always wins a retrial. >> the prosecutor in this case, the state of maryland, learns from the mistakes they made, has probably spoken to the sole juror who hung. and they are able to address the concerns of that juror. >> reporter: during opening statements, the lead prosecutor told jurors the johnsons torched the puppy. she said within minutes, the little dog was engulfed in flames, most of her body on fire, screaming, jumping, crying out in pain, left to die in the street. but defense attorneys insist the johnsons are scapegoats and sai

. >> this video shows travers and tremain johnson running from the scene of the crime. several jurors turned their head away when they showed the image of the dog burning. the johnson brothers' first trial ended in a hung jury. defense attorneys say the johnsons are being used as scapegoats. the johnsons face felony animal cruelty charges. kai? >> they face a maximum penalty of three years in prison. >>> more leaks. and the arrest of george zimmerman. more protests across the country are being planned. >> reporter: george zimmerman remains free and is not talking about the shooting death of trayvon martin. but with continuing calls for his arrest, zimmerman's family is going public. robert zimmerman, jr., told cnn, his brother acted in self- defense and, quote, stop someone from arming him. the 17-year-old martin was not armed when the neighborhood watch volunteer started following him. zimmerman told police he thought martin looked suspicious. >> he's got his hand in his waistband. and he's a black male. >> reporter: across the country, demonstrations over martin's dea

travers and tremain johnson are accused of forcing an accelerant on a dog and lighting it on fire. phoenix had to be put down because of severe injuries. a hung jury caused a mistrial in 2011. wjz has the latest. we'll have the latest on opening arguments coming up all new at 5:00 and 6:00. >>> newt gingrich cuts back while mitt romney cuts closer to locking up the nomination for president. danielle nottingham reports for wjz. rick santorum isn't ready to give up the fight. >> reporter: mitt romney is picking up an endorsement from former president george h.w. bush. it's the latest sign that gop leaders are eager to wrap up the primary race and begin the head to have -- head-to-head battle with president obama. on wednesday, tea party favorite, florida senator marco rubio, threw his support behind romney, saying republicans don't need a floor fight at this summer's convention. romney's closest rival, rick santorum, seemed to acknowledge publicly, for the first time, he may not win this contest. but he's still campaigning hard in wisconsin, ahead of next week's primary. >> i think t