Randy Acevedo's fate is in the hands of four women and two men who will decide, possibly by the end of this week, whether the suspended Monroe County schools superintendent is guilty of three counts of official misconduct.

The jury today will hear opening arguments and begin hearing testimony from witnesses, who will include school district Finance Director Kathy Reitzel, purchase card administrator Linda Walker, Deputy Schools Superintendent Mike Henriquez, School Board Chairman Andy Griffiths, and possibly Acevedo himself.

The jury was seated Tuesday afternoon, after a day and a half of whittling the initial pool of 120 candidates. Before the final six and two alternates were chosen, Acevedo's attorney focused on asking potential jurors who handled their family finances; whether they had been supervisors with employees who hadn't done their jobs properly; and how they would feel if Acevedo did not take the stand.

One woman said she handles her family's finances and her husband doesn't know what they have in the bank.

"He doesn't know and doesn't care to know," she said.

"My husband takes care of everything," another said.

"My wife does [the finances]," a man said.

"Does she tell you everything?" attorney Catherine Vogel asked.

"I trust her," he responded.

Acevedo has said he had no idea his wife, former Adult Education Coordinator Monique Acevedo, allegedly charged hundreds of thousands of dollars on her school district credit card for personal purchases, such as clothes, airline tickets and home furnishings.

Whether Acevedo knew is not the focus of the three official misconduct charges, however. Rather they accuse him of trying to cover it up after the finance director alerted him: When he gave Reitzel an allegedly faked letter; when he allegedly asked Reitzel not to tell anyone until they could meet about it again; and when he signed a document saying no one had alleged fraud in the 2007-08 audit.

Wearing a school district logo lapel pin -- the day after Joseph Burke replaced him as interim superintendent -- Acevedo seemed relaxed and smiled or chuckled when his attorney drew a laugh from a prospective juror.

jguerra@keysnews.com