North Jurors Deliberate for 5 1/2 Hours

A jury of nine women and three men deliberated for 5 1/2 hours Friday without reaching a verdict in the case against former White House aide Oliver L. North.

U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell excused the jurors for the day and instructed them to return to the courthouse this morning to resume deliberations.

If they fail to reach a verdict today, they will take Sunday off before deliberating again on Monday, court officials said.

Asks for Paper Clips

Jury foreman Denise Anderson sent Gesell a note Friday asking for additional note pads, pencils and paper clips--and requesting lunch at the same time each day--indicating that deliberations on the 12 criminal counts against North in the Iran-Contra case may take several days. Jurors are being sequestered at night in a downtown hotel.

Anderson added that “everyone would like a copy of the instructions” that Gesell read to the jury Thursday. Gesell agreed to furnish duplicates of the approximately 40-page text.

Meanwhile, an alternate juror who was present for all eight weeks of testimony said she would have voted to convict North on at least some of the charges against him.

But Horasina McKie, one of five alternates dismissed when the case went to the regular jury on Thursday, said that, in accordance with the judge’s instructions, she had not discussed the evidence with other jurors.