Lawmaker's sex trial off to slow start

VIERA -- (AP) -- A Brevard County judge found it difficult Monday to find impartial jurors to try state Rep. Bob Allen on charges that he offered to perform oral sex on an undercover officer in a public bathroom for $20.

Many of those interviewed said they knew about the case and had already made up their mind. The case has been covered extensively in the local newspapers and on television.

''I've heard so much about it and I've seen so much on TV it would be hard,'' said one man, an engineer who before Allen's arrest had never heard of the Republican from Merritt Island.

Allen listened hard during the proceedings, his wife sitting nearby. He was raised in the area -- near Kennedy Space Center on Florida's Atlantic Coast -- and has spent seven years serving it in the Legislature. He is even honored on a plaque at Veteran's Memorial Park, the place he is accused of seeking sex, for its funding before his election. His attorney said the lawmaker was there in preparation for a fundraiser......