A jury was seated today in the trial of two locals who stand accused of trying to extort $700,000 from the ex-ER hunk by threatening to sell supposedly compromising pictures of him.
Attorneys for the defendants, one of whom claims she had a fling with Stamos when she was 17, have suggested in court papers that they plan to make Stamos' sex life an issue to exonerate their clients.
Scott Sippola, 30, and Allison Coss, 23, were busted in December after after threatening to make public several embarrassing photos of the former Full House star at a 2004 party, supposedly showing him with cocaine and strippers. Stamos' camp has claimed there were no such images, only harmless pics of "John posing with fans."
The duo has pleaded not guilty to charges of felony extortion and misusing interstate commerce.
During jury selection, both sides dismissed eight panelists after quizzing them about whether celebrities have a right to privacy, whether they understood the difference between "immoral" and "illegal" and what the word "extortion" meant.
While the judge ruled last week that testimony about Stamos' sex life was verboten, opening statements are fair game.
The defendants' attorney, Sarah Henderson, told the court in her opening remarks that Coss had an intimate encounter with Stamos when they met in 2004, shortly after he and Rebecca Romijn separated.
