Counsel Asks Review of Order Opening Deaver Jury Selection

The prosecutor in lobbyist Michael K. Deaver’s perjury trial asked a federal appeals court on Friday to reconsider an order that barred private questioning of prospective jurors.

Independent counsel Whitney North Seymour Jr. petitioned the full U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals here to review the ruling of a three-judge panel that he argued “disregarded the doctrine of judicial restraint, undermined the sound administration of justice, and severely damaged the interests of the defendant, the prosecution and the general public.”

The three-judge panel last week unanimously reversed private jury-selection procedures shortly after they were begun by U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson. The ruling prompted Jackson to dismiss the 94 prospective jurors and postpone the trial until Oct. 19.

Personal Questions

Jackson began picking the jury behind closed doors, citing personal questions about jurors’ attitudes toward and experiences with alcoholism and drug use.

Deaver’s defense lawyers have signaled that they intend to assert that the former presidential aide’s memory was clouded by alcohol when he gave allegedly false testimony.

The former deputy White House chief of staff is accused of lying to a House subcommittee and to a federal grand jury that investigated his lobbying business for possible conflict-of-interest violations.

Several news organizations won a reversal of the order allowing closed jury selection. The appeals court said Jackson had failed to properly apply a 1984 Supreme Court ruling involving the Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise that mandated public jury selection except in extraordinary circumstances.

But in his petition for rehearing, Seymour said that case called for a balance of the defendant’s right to a fair trial and the press’ right of access.

Deaver is charged with lying when he said he couldn’t recall contacting former Reagan Administration colleagues on behalf of his lobbying clients.