Three potential jurors in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial were sent home Monday after each said they were afraid their service might put them or their families in danger.

"Sounds like some pretty serious charges to me," said one man, moments after he was told why he was asked to show up at the federal courthouse. "I don't feel comfortable. ... This ain't like a parking ticket."

"Would the fear of retaliation affect the way you looked at the case?" defense attorney Greg Westfall asked.

"Yes," the man said.

With that, U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish excused the juror, who was one of 26 men and women interviewed by prosecutors and defense attorneys on the first day of the trial in which prosecutors allege that the Richardson-based Holy Land Foundation provided support to Middle Eastern charities controlled by the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Hamas, which is not known to sponsor terrorist acts inside the U.S., was declared a terrorist organization by the U.S. in 1995. It has an extensive history of sponsoring suicide bombings targeting Israelis.

The government claims that more than $12 million raised by Holy Land and seven organizers was sent to Palestinian charity committees controlled by Hamas. Prosecutors say that aid freed up other money that Hamas could then use for terrorism.

Defense attorneys deny that their clients did anything other than raise money for women, orphans and others devastated by years of overseas war. Their supporters say the 14-year federal investigation into the group's activities is fueled by anti-Muslim prejudice in the wake of 9/11.

One by one, 26 men and women of various ages, ethnic backgrounds, education levels and knowledge about the case were brought into Judge Fish's expansive 15th-floor courtroom at the Earle Cabell Federal Building in downtown Dallas.

Among them was a doctor, a helicopter salesman, a nursing home caregiver, a bus driver, a juvenile counselor, an insurance salesman/financial consultant and a school district maintenance worker who recently returned from a military stint in Iraq, and several retirees.

Once inside the courtroom, they sat alone in the jury box, facing a roomful of attorneys and five of the defendants. (Two are overseas and considered fugitives.)

Attorneys for both sides queried them on what they had heard about the case in the media, whether they had ever had any dealings – good or bad – with Muslims, and whether they could render a fair verdict.

The mere mention that the charity workers were accused of aiding a "terrorist" organization was enough for three jurors to tell the attorneys and Judge Fish that they couldn't put aside their worries.

"It would bother me if we had to put someone in jail," one woman said.

Another man, from Richardson, told attorneys and the judge that he would be afraid for himself and his family if he were part of the panel.

"I don't put anything past that group," he said, referring to Hamas. "If it came out that ... [the Holy Land defendants] were guilty, I think something could happen."

When asked by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Jacks, the lead prosecutor in the case, if he might render a not-guilty verdict because of safety concerns, the man replied, "It would be a possibility."

In addition to the three jurors excused because they said they feared retaliation, Judge Fish also excused an Asian woman who spoke little English, and a man who told attorneys that he could not be impartial.

When asked whether he could follow a law that says any aid – be it diapers, soccer balls, money or other humanitarian aid – given to a designated foreign terrorist organization is illegal, the man balked.

"I'll be honest with you. I couldn't find them guilty," he said.

Judge Fish is considering what to do with six other potential jurors. Defense or prosecution attorneys flagged them for various biases they exhibited or because the jurors felt that they would endure financial hardships serving in a trial expected to last at least three months.

Jury selection is expected to last all week.