Renowned television talk-show hostess Oprah Winfrey has been selected to determine a man’s fate in a murder trial in Chicago.

Winfrey is one of 12 jurors on the case of 26-year-old Dion Coleman, who's accused in the February 2002 shooting death of 23-year-old Walter Holley over a counterfeit $50 bill.

Last week, Cook County sheriff's office spokeswoman Sally Daly said Winfrey was among some 300 prospective jurors scheduled to appear at court Monday for the three-day trial.

If a member of the jury could cause a distraction to the case, they are usually dismissed, but Winfrey didn't exercise that right, and lawyers aren't saying why. The talk-show host had told reporters she didn't think she'd be picked because she's too opinionated.

After Winfrey was selected, Judge James B. Linn said the world-famous broadcaster was picked through a “straight-up jury selection.'

For daily pay of $17.20, the Chicago resident will travel from her posh surroundings on the city’s North Side to the city's South Side. The broadcaster was ordered to do jury duty after being released from two previous court summonses because of conflicts with her work schedule. The only minor separation between Winfrey and other jurors is that she is allowed to enter the Cook County Circuit Court through a rear entrance to avoid media frenzy.

Winfrey began her civic duty Monday, yet officials guaranteed that once inside the courtroom, she wouldn't receive any special treatment.

As Winfrey appeared for her second day in court Tuesday, she occasionally jotted down notes as a witness testified that she saw Coleman shoot Holley.

'I'm just hoping it doesn't take longer than a week because I've got shows to do,' Winfrey told ABC-TV before she was chosen.

She said she would finish reading Anna Karenina and work on ideas for her TV show while waiting around. Deliberations are expected in the case Wednesday.

Winfrey is one of the highest paid women on television thanks to her hugely successful talk show, which is syndicated around the world. Since its U.S. national premiere in 1986, 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' has won 38 Emmy awards, been distributed to 107 countries and been a top-rated talk show in the United States for the past 18 years.