ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 13, 1994                   TAG: 9408040036
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Mike Hudson staff writer
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short


JUDGE SAYS: 'PUT O. J. OUT OF MIND'

The media frenzy over the O. J. Simpson murder case has left Roanoke County Judge G. O. Clemens a bit concerned.

On Tuesday, he asked potential jurors in the Circuit Court murder trial of Brian Keith Johnson whether they thought their judgment might be clouded by the pervasive news coverage of the "legal proceedings in California."

Clemens said Simpson's recent preliminary hearing was conducted under California law, and was at a very different stage in the legal process than Johnson's trial. He asked them to put aside any legal obersvations they've heard on television.

Al the would-be jurors indicated they could put the case out of their minds.



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