ATTORNEYS QUESTION JURY POOL.

Byline: - Cecilia Chan

Prosecutors and defense attorneys on Tuesday began questioning some 175 potential jurors in the death-penalty case of a mother charged with murdering three of her sons.

Socorro ``Cora'' Caro, 43, has pleaded not guilty and not guilty for reason of insanity to the Nov. 22, 1999, shootings of the three school-age boys as they slept in the family's hilltop mansion in the Santa Rosa Valley.

Prosecutor James Ellison said some of the 200 jurors called for service were excused for hardships before Tuesday.

``There are 175 approximately left,'' he said of the jury pool.

Ellison couldn't speculate when the jury of 12 plus five alternates would be seated. But the weeding out process was expected to last through the end of the week.

Deputy Public Defender Jean Farley was not available for comment but had indicated in an earlier interview that the trial could last for four months.

Prosecutors say Caro was distraught over her failing marriage when she fatally shot her sons, 11, 7 and 5 years old. Afterward she shot herself in the head, but survived.

Her husband, Xavier, a respected Northridge doctor, arrived home late at night and discovered the shootings. Another son, then 17 months old, was not harmed.