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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 4, 1995                   TAG: 9510040068
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                LENGTH: Medium

JUROR: FUHRMAN BIG FACTOR

One juror in the O.J. Simpson case told her daughter she thinks Simpson probably is guilty, but voted to acquit because the fiasco over racist investigator Mark Fuhrman torpedoed the prosecution's case, ABC reported Tuesday.

Juror Anise Aschenbach made the comments in a telephone conversation with her daughter, the network reported, identifying the daughter only as Denise.

``She said, `I think he probably did do it, Denise,''' the daughter said. ``I said something like, `Gosh, you're kidding me.' And she said, `No,' and she's crying. So I said: `Why? What happened? What was the thing?'

``She said it was because there wasn't enough evidence. And I said, `Why?' She said, `Because of Mark Fuhrman.'''

It was the most detailed report of deliberations to emerge as jurors mostly ducked reporters and went home after nine months of restricted phone calls, censored newspapers and supervised family visits.

Juror service for the 14 remaining panelists and alternates officially ended Tuesday with their unanimous not-guilty verdicts, their hotel confinement now just the memory of the century.

``I'm so glad to be back. I feel free,'' said juror Brenda Moran, 45, a computer technician from South Central Los Angeles. ``I think we did the right thing - matter of fact, I know we did.''

She described sequestration as an ordeal but spoke of the bonds she developed with other jurors.

``We had a great time together. We kissed, we cried, we just talked, you know, we just had a real good time, and we just had time to enjoy one another,'' she said. ``We developed a bond together, and we will remain friends.''

Moran declined to talk in detail about deliberations, but indirectly addressed criticism that jurors may have made a hasty decision.

``You sit there for nine months,'' she said. ``You heard evidence, so that's enough right there. You heard the evidence for nine months.''

Jury forewoman Armanda Cooley, 51, a county accounting department worker, was escorted to her South Central home by officers from the same Los Angeles Police Department that took such a beating in the trial. She didn't want to talk; her daughter did it for her.

``I have been in contact with my mother,'' Yolanda Cooley said. ``Her only interest right now is to rest and to regroup.''

by CNB