By Debbie Emery - Breaking Celebrity News Reporter

The man suspected of killing Jennifer Hudson’s family appeared in a Chicago court on Thursday to face the potential jurors in his murder trial, and those being considered to decide his fate gasped when they realized that they were involved in the high-profile celebrity murder case.

The presence of William Balfour, who is accused of slaying the Dreamgirls star’s mother, brother and nephew more than three years ago, caused 20 people to stand up and leave the courtroom when Judge Charles Burns asked if anyone would be unable to decide the case without “sympathy, bias or prejudice,” reported the Chicago Tribune.

They were even more shocked when the former American Idol contestant’s name was read out as a potential witness, as Breaking Celebrity News exclusively revealed last December. “Is that Jennifer Hudson, the actress?” one man marveled.

By February, defense attorney Amy Thompson was seeking out Jennifer regarding text messages that were exchanged with her mother, Darnell Hudson Don