Chief of North Jury Linked to Prosecutor : Forewoman, Cousin of Keker’s Secretary, Denies Any Significance

The forewoman of the jury that convicted for White House aide Oliver L. North is the cousin of a secretary to the prosecutor in the case, a spokesman for the independent counsel’s office said today.

James Wieghart said the matter was brought to the attention of the court and North’s attorneys “when we learned of the relationship from the secretary” during North’s trial in the Iran-Contra scandal.

U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell, who presided in the case, held a hearing on the matter, but the record of that proceeding has been sealed.

Denise Anderson, forewoman of North’s jury, said in an interview in this week’s People magazine that she bumped into her cousin, Gertrude Griffin, but did not discuss the case with the woman, who works for prosecutor John Keker.

Anderson also did not report the meeting or her relationship to Griffin to Gesell, according to People.

“She knew her job, and I knew mine,” Anderson said. “Just because she worked for Keker didn’t mean diddlywink.”

Anderson and her 11 fellow jurors convicted North, a former Marine colonel and National Security Council staffer, on three felony counts in the Iran-Contra affair and acquitted him on nine others.

In the magazine interview, the 34-year-old hospital administrative secretary said the isolation imposed on the jury during the trial was stressful. They were watched by federal marshals at every turn to make sure they did not discuss the case.

“I’d walk maybe 10 minutes, go back to my room and sit on the end of the bed. It was quiet. No TV, no radio, no nothing,” she said.

“I told my mother, ‘I’m taking my hair dryer so I can just listen to the noise.’ ”

Anderson said the deliberations were often divisive.

When she asked for additional copies of the judge’s instructions and trial evidence, Anderson said some of her colleagues got angry.

“Some people fought me on it. They didn’t want to read. They didn’t want to discuss,” she told the magazine.

Later, without consulting the other jurors, she asked for larger quarters in which to work. “They began cussing me out,” she said.

The panel couldn’t even agree on when to take a break.

“I figured we were taking too much time off; they wanted to take more breaks and goof off,” she said.

“We didn’t have time for politeness. A man’s life was in our hands,” she said, adding that her prodding paid off.