Juror in Murder Trial Threatens to Quit : Complains of ‘Bickering’; Judge Spurns His Plea to Be Excused

Despite a juror’s request that he be relieved of his obligation and a threat that he might not show up in court today, a Los Angeles judge on Wednesday ordered the retired firefighter to continue deliberating in the murder trial of Horace Burns.

George Dowell, 72, told Superior Court Judge Aurelio Munoz that his nerves have become frayed since the 12-member jury began deliberations last Thursday in the case involving the shooting deaths of four family members of former UCLA and professional football star Kermit Alexander.

Dowell, who said his daily commute from San Gabriel since the trial began April 1 has helped make him edgy, added, “I don’t have the resistance for all the bickering that’s going on . . . the continual hassle and the nit-picking.”

After Dowell conceded Wednesday that he is not under a doctor’s care, Munoz ordered him back to the jury room.

‘I Can’t Take This’

“But I’m an old man, I don’t need this,” blurted Dowell, as he trudged out of the courtroom. “I may just not show up tomorrow. I can’t take this anymore.”

If Dowell carries out his threat, Munoz could order a county marshal to fetch him and could also hold him in contempt of court, Deputy Dist. Atty. Sterling E. Norris said.

Munoz, however, indicated that if he perceives that Dowell has a legitimate physical problem, he will reconsider and replace him with an alternate juror.

Recalling a case several months ago in which a juror died of a heart attack outside his courtroom, Munoz told attorneys that he does not want a similar experience.

Execution-Style Shootings

The eight-woman, four-man jury is deciding whether Burns, 20, of Los Angeles is guilty of murder in the execution-style shootings of Alexander’s mother, Ebora, 58; his sister, Dietra, 24, and his nephews, Damami Garner, 13, and Damon Bonner, 8, last August in Mrs. Alexander’s South-Central Los Angeles home.

On Tuesday, jurors requested rereading of the testimony of Burns--who faces the death penalty if convicted--and of a witness who testified that Burns waited in a van while two other defendants went into the Alexander house.

The other defendants, Tiequon Aundray Cox, 18, and Charles Darren Williams, 24, are to be tried separately.