8B
Tuesday, September 27,1994
UN I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
Jurors are screened
> Potential jurors answer questionnaire with issues pertaining to case
> Simpson trial:
> Questionnaire expected to run at least 50 pages
▶ Voire dîre: Each potential juror is questioned by defense, prosecution lawyers
Lawyers will select:
Twelve impartial community members
Lawyers can dismiss candidates: because of opinions, interests which challenge the ability to remain impartial
Reasons lawyers can dismiss
▶ *For cause:* lawyers state reason for dismissing candidate
> Peremptory challenges:
limited number of rejections
lawyers can make without
giving justification
Court labors to find Simpson jury
Media and finances play role in selection
LOS ANGELES - O.J. Simpson quietly sang, "A new day has begun ..." before facing some of his potential jurors Monday as the most-watched murder trial in U.S. history got under way.
Jury candidates were identified only by numbers. The first to be questioned was No. 0032. Simpson wore No. 32 as a college and professional football star, and that didn't go unnoticed.
"I don't know if this is an omen."
said Superior Court Judge Lance Itto.
After questioning potential jurors about whether serving would be a hardship, to excused 112 of the first 219 called.
The judge divided those remaining into groups, those who said they definitely could serve and those who said they might be able to, and then asked them to explain their positions. Sixty-five had said they definitely could serve.
Of the potential jurors called, 212 reported Monday and 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."
Inside, they gathered in a large 11th floor jury assembly room, and Ito introduced the principal players in the case, including Simpson. The former football star then stood up and said, "Good afternoon."
Simpson sat at a table with his hands in his lap. He tried to make eye contact with the jury candidates, but few looked at him.
He is charged with the slaying deaths of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman on June 12.
"This is probably the most important decision you'll make in your personal life," It told the group. "It's the most important decision of any American citizen. I need a fair jury."
Among those excused were at least one person who was physically disabled and some whose employers would pay for only 10 days of jury service.
"Five dollars a day doesn't quite make it," Ito said of the money the county will pay the iurors.
The trial could last up to six months and some jurors were apparently scared off by the prospect they might have to be sequestered. But the biggest problem, the judge indicated, was financial.
Those who made the first cut were told to fill out a 75-page questionnaire probing their personal lives as well as their attitudes toward the Simpson case. A groan came up when it told the crowd how long the form was.
He warned them that reporters may be reviewing the answers and that anyone who wanted to keep their information confidential should make a note for the judge.
"I don't think you should have to sacrifice the sanctity of your personal life for this case," he said.
Meanwhile, prosecutors asked that Ito delay the individual questioning of jury prospects until after a crucial hearing on the admissibility of DNA evidence. The judge scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to consider the prosecution's request.
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 wait until sometime in November when they would return for personal questioning.
Ito has said he will decide whether to sequester the jury after hearing from the prospective jurors how publicity has affected them.
About 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 only by numbers, defense lawyers 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.
The Associated Press
Media trailers filled a nearby parking lot and hot dog vendors competed with caterers who delivered meals to some news organizations.
The station ended up not hiring the performers.
Simpson's court trial creates circus, but no clowns are allowed
"It was a last minute decision ... you can only be so irreverent. We wanted to be involved, but it's not something that is totally congruent to humor," said Steve Perun, program director for KIISFM. He said the ad had cost about $20,000.
LOS ANGELES — A radio station had promised the start of the O.J. Simpson trial yesterday would be a circus. The acrobats didn't make it, but the scene outside the courthouse was still, well, a circus.
Simpson faces two first-degree murder charges in the June 12 stabbing deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
crowded the downtown street outside the block-long courhouse. They were kept at bay by orange pylons and rope that carved out an aisle for attorneys and potential jurors to walk down the stairs to the building's entrance.
About 200 people, mostly reporters.
"It's very annoying," defense attorney David Herriford said as he waited for an elevator inside the building. "In the attorney lounge it's the main subject of discussion... Most are concerned about the extra five minutes at the elevator, about pushing through the crowds. It takes longer to get in and out."
On Sunday, the KIS-FM took out a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times featuring a picture of acrobats and promising a "Media Circus provided by Circus
Among those trying to get into the courthouse were 219 prospective jurors
who were told to appear before Superior Court Judge Lance Ito.
If their voices could be heard above the ruckus, that is.
In a more serious tone, Women Against Violence draped long banners along a wall by the courthouse decrying spousal abuse.
Nearby, James Horton was selling "Free O.J." T-shirts and caps embossed with "Shapiro vs. Clark" scrawled atop two opposing box gloves.
Media swarms to cover O.J.
LOS ANGELES — You saw dozens of them camped outside O.J. Simpson's Brentwood mansion for days on end armed with coolers and satellite trucks, lawn chairs and cellular phones.
"It so often leads to murder," said Stephanie Boggs of West Hollywood. "I think this is an opportunity to get our voices heard and turn it around."
The Associated Press
Well, camp O.J. has moved to the courthouse, concentrating the power of at least 75 news organizations at Simpson trial coverage headquarters and bringing new meaning to the word stakeout.
Live broadcasts have been put in some doubt by Judge Lance Ito's threat last week to limit media coverage, but reporters are here in force to tell the story one way or another.
Straddling the vehicles are massive wood and iron scaffolds built to allow TV networks and their affiliates to tape their reports away from courthouse crowds with downtown as a backdrop.
The parking lot across the street has been rented by the Radio and Television News Association, coordinator of the double murder trial coverage, and is now home to 40-plus satellite trucks and air-conditioned trailers.
Camp O.J. is not without amenities, including five portable toilets (cleaned daily), four 24-hour security guards, daily trash pickup, 600 phone lines and, for some, coffee, donuts and catered lunches.
The cost of bringing the Simpson trial to every living room in America?
Just readying the press rooms cost $500,000, RTNA president Milli Martinez said. Rental of the parking lot next to the quakedamaged Hall of Justice is $24,000 a month. Throw in the cost of electricity, fiber optic cables and the rest and a six-month trial could cost the group $700,000.
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