Angry Judge Says TV Complicates Picking North Jury

Selection of prospective jurors for the trial of former White House aide Oliver L. North continued Wednesday after a judge threatened to hold a television reporter in contempt of court for purportedly making the process more difficult.

U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell complained that ABC News Correspondent Tim O’Brien had shown a news clip of North’s 1987 congressional testimony Tuesday night while telling viewers that, if they were potential jurors, watching the clip could disqualify them.

ABC officials said that the film clip was part of O’Brien’s report and that no harm was intended.

Gesell, in screening prospective jurors in his courtroom, has been especially sensitive to whether they saw or read about North’s widely publicized 1987 testimony to Congress. Testifying then under a grant of immunity from prosecution, the former National Security Council official made a number of disclosures about the Iran-Contra case.

In bringing criminal charges against North, independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh was required by law to build his case on evidence that was independent of North’s testimony. Gesell has said that he does not want any references to the 1987 testimony to “taint” the trial.

Gesell angrily charged that O’Brien, in his television report, “took pains” to advise viewers that watching the 1987 film clip could be grounds for being excused as a juror. Although the judge said that he was considering a contempt citation against the newsman, legal sources said that such action is unlikely.

Most prospective jurors who filled out a questionnaire said that they had seen parts of North’s testimony two years ago or had read about it. Gesell promptly excused them. With a need to impanel 12 jurors and six alternates, it seemed likely that the screening process would occupy several more days.

North declined all comment while entering and leaving the federal courthouse. However, he tossed off a few one-liners in breakfast remarks to a religious group Tuesday.

He said that he could remain only a few minutes because “I have an appearance elsewhere that I have been invited to.” He added that “normally in order to speak, I have to have a subpoena.”

North faces 12 criminal charges, including covering up the scandal.