Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 27, 1994 TAG: 9409270106
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
Those reporting for jury duty had to pass a phalanx of news crews, demonstrators and entrepreneurs outside the courthouse hawking everything from T-shirts and caps to buttons reading, ``O.J. Juror Reject, Didn't Make the Cut.''
Before distributing the questionnaires, Superior Court Judge Lance Ito dismissed 82 people who had said the case would pose a hardship for them. Among them were at least one physically disabled person and others who said their employers would only pay them for up to 10 days of jury service. The trial could last up to six months.
``Five dollars a day doesn't quite make it,'' Ito said of the money the county will pay jurors to serve.
The judge had potential jurors fill out so-called hardship questionnaires before even getting to the 75-page questionnaires. The more detailed questionnaire has not been released to the public.
Of the first batch of 219 prospective jurors, 65 said they could endure a long trial and the possibility of being sequestered away from their families, 91 said it would be a hardship, and 63 said they weren't sure if they could do it.
Also Monday, prosecutors asked Ito to postpone individual questioning of jury prospects until after a crucial hearing on the admissibility of DNA evidence. The judge scheduled a hearing Wednesday to consider that request.
Ito has said he will decide whether to sequester the jury after hearing from the prospective jurors how publicity has affected them.
Simpson, who was present as the jury candidates filled out the 75-page questionnaires, is charged with killing ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman on June 12.
Ito has proposed selecting 12 jurors and eight alternates, then sending them home during the DNA hearing.
But prosecutors contend the hearing could take a month, during which jurors would be exposed to publicity and conversations that might prejudice them.
They suggested having prospective jurors fill out the questionnaires, then go home until sometime in November, when they would return for personal questioning.
Some 1,000 people have received summonses for the trial; they are being brought into court in smaller groups for lack of space.
Identifying prospective jurors by number only, defense attorneys and prosecutors reviewed those the judge initially planned to excuse and offered their own suggestions.
In one case, Ito was going to drop a woman who said she is diabetic and cares for her 85-year-old mother and a husband with heart problems. But defense attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr. asked that the woman be questioned further, and Ito agreed.
Ito also amended his decision on how jury selection would be covered by the media. He first said only one reporter and no TV cameras would be allowed. But he let three reporters cover Monday's session and said that as seats become available he will allow up to five reporters in. TV cameras were still barred.
Throughout jury selection, a closed-circuit audio feed will pipe some of the proceedings to a courthouse press room, but the feed cannot be broadcast.
Also Monday, Gov. Pete Wilson signed legislation to make it a crime for jurors or witnesses to sell their stories before or during a criminal trial. The legislation would also increase penalties for domestic violence and impose tighter standards on lawyers making potentially prejudicial statements outside court.
by CNB