The Nation - News from Feb. 1, 1989

A federal judge encountered immediate problems as he began selecting jurors for the trial of former White House aide Oliver L. North. About 40 of the first 55 prospective jurors were tentatively dismissed after saying that they had watched North’s 1987 congressional testimony on television or had read about it. U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell noted that the government’s case against North must be based solely on evidence gathered independently of his congressional testimony. By the end of the day Gesell had screened only seven prospective jurors who said that they had paid little or no attention to North’s earlier testimony. North, who has pleaded innocent to 12 criminal charges, sat at the defense table smiling at supporters.