NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Hundreds of potential jurors for the criminal trial of Martha Stewart piled into a Manhattan federal courthouse Tuesday for what will be one of the most closely watched criminal trials of a corporate executive this year.

The potential jurors were greeted with tighter-than-normal security procedures at the courthouse. Long lines formed at the metal detectors inside, while U.S. marshals patrolled outside the courthouse. Court officers also stood guard outside the jury assembly room to keep out media and the public, Reuters reported.

Jury selection begins today in New York for the upcoming criminal trial of Martha Stewart. CNNfn's Allan Chernoff reports. Play video (Real or Windows Media)

Once seated in red leather chairs in the assembly room, perspective jurors were given a thick questionnaire to complete, according to the news agency.

Jury selection is expected to last about two weeks in the case against Stewart, who has been charged with obstruction of justice concerning her sale of stock in ImClone Systems, which was founded by Sam Waksal, a friend of Stewart. She has also been charged with securities fraud.

Stewart, 62, sold nearly 4,000 shares of ImClone (IMCL: Research, Estimates) stock on Dec. 27, 2001, a day before regulators rejected the company's application for approval of Erbitux, ImClone's experimental cancer drug -- news that send its stock tumbling. She's accused of lying to investigators and the public about the circumstances surrounding that sale.

Stewart has maintained that she didn't have inside information and had a long-standing arrangement with her broker to sell ImClone stock at a certain price. Both Stewart and the broker, Peter Bacanovic, have pleaded innocent to obstruction of justice charges.

Merrill Lynch suspended Bacanovic in June 2002 after the firm heard conflicting accounts about whether Stewart's agreement with Bacanovic about an ImClone sale existed.

Stewart stepped down as CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO: Research, Estimates) in an effort to minimize that company's falling stock prices, resulting at least in part from the publicity surrounding the allegations against her.

Lawyers from both sides will screen potential jurors carefully, asking questions about their knowledge of the case and whether they like or dislike Stewart, a legal expert said Monday.

"The prosecutors will want to make sure that the prospective jurors won't be intimidated or influenced by her celebrity status," said Henry Mazurek, a lawyer with the firm Gerald Shargel in New York.

If a perspective juror has read about Stewart or watched her interviews on TV, "the judge will most likely ask the person if he or she will be able set the knowledge aside," said Mazurek, who specializes in white-collar criminal defense.

The defense team will want jurors who'll give her the benefit of the doubt and honor the presumption of innocence, legal experts said. But finding 12 jurors without a strong opinion about Stewart may be difficult.

Finding 12 jurors without strong opinions about Stewart may be difficult as jury selection begins.

U.S. District Court Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum has not released the questionnaire to the public, and a court employee told CNN/Money that the judge may not consider releasing the questionnaire at all in this high-profile case.

Jeffrey Frederick, director of jury research for the National Legal Research Group in Charlottesville, Va., told Reuters that lawyers would most likely include "open ended" questions that allow potential panelists to express what they might have heard about the case.

"The language they use sometimes gives an indication of their feelings," he told Reuters.

Judge Cedarbaum will review the jurors chosen on Jan. 20, according to the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York.

Mazurek estimated the trial will start on or about Jan. 26, soon after jury selection is finalized, though the date could be pushed back.

Once the government rests its case, the defense will determine whether Stewart will testify.

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The case against the homemaking maven will be one of the most closely observed white-collar criminal trials in recent history. Her case also kicks off a busy year for corporate executives on trial.

Former star investment banker Frank Quattrone, whose first trial ended in a mistrial in October, will be tried again in March. Andrew Fastow, Enron's former CFO, also goes on trial later this year.

Meanwhile, the in-progress case against Dennis Kozlowski, former CEO of Tyco International, will likely go to a jury early this year, while the trial against Richard Scrushy, former CEO of HealthSouth, is set to begin on Aug. 1.

Sam Waksal is currently serving a seven-year prison term after pleading guilty to charges of trying to sell ImClone stock before the Erbitux news broke.

A guilty conviction on all counts could mean a prison sentence of as much as 30 years for Stewart and 25 years for Bacanovic, the U.S. Attorney's office said. But if Stewart is convicted on all counts, she'll probably face three-to-five years, Mazurek said, since full maximum sentences are rarely imposed.

A spokeswoman for Stewart wasn't immediately available for comment.  

-- Reuters contributed to the story.