North Jury Selection Bogs Down : Public Familiarity With Him Poses Problem, Judge Says

Oliver L. North’s Iran-Contra trial quickly ran into jury selection trouble today and the judge said there could be problems with “triability of the case” because so many people had seen or read of North’s testimony in congressional hearings.

U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell said only 16 of the first 54 prospective jurors indicated on questionnaires they had not been exposed to North’s congressional appearances. The former White House aide testified to House and Senate investigating committees in 1987 under a grant of limited immunity from prosecution based on his testimony.

Gesell decided to hear arguments on how much exposure to such testimony ought to be allowed before a possible juror is disqualified. He said he will rule Wednesday.

As proceedings began, North, dressed in a dark suit, sat at the defense table. He had testified to Congress in his ribbon-bedecked Marine uniform but has since retired from the service.

North’s trial on charges of lying to Congress, shredding evidence and conspiring to commit tax fraud “arises following a period of fairly intense publicity on television, newspapers, magazines” which will continue, Gesell said.

He quickly excused the first five prospective jurors after all said they had been exposed to North’s 1987 testimony.

One said she had had the television turned on and was aware of North’s immunized testimony, in which he detailed activities in connection with which he is now accused of crimes. Another prospective juror said she had monitored North’s congressional appearances “rather continuously.” Two others agreed with the judge’s characterization that they had been “interested” in North’s testimony. A fifth said she may have seen portions of North’s congressional appearances “once or twice a week” during the time he testified.

North’s attorney, Brendan Sullivan, also sought to rule out as jurors anyone who in recent days had seen North’s congressional testimony replayed in news reports as the trial start neared.

John Keker, who heads the prosecution team for independent counsel Lawrence Walsh, said he wanted to present arguments on the process of automatically disqualifying prospective jurors because they thought they might have been exposed to North’s testimony.