Judge Expects 7-Month Trial for Keating : Courts: Prospective jurors are advised that such a duration could bring personal hardship, but 37 out of 100 people remain in first day of jury selection.

Charles H. Keating Jr. wants his trial on state securities fraud charges to go as quickly as possible, but the judge presiding over the first criminal case stemming from the collapse of Lincoln Savings & Loan told 100 prospective jurors Tuesday that the proceedings could last seven months.

“I’ll take a pause and let that sink in. All right, 1992--March,” Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito said during the first day of jury selection.

He noted that many jurors would be unable to afford to take that much time off work, but for those selected, Ito said: “Obviously, this will be a relatively interesting case.”

Keating, former chairman of Lincoln’s parent company, American Continental Corp., has been an outspoken critic of federal thrift regulators and that, together with his political fund-raising and influence, has made him the symbol of the nation’s S&L; debacle.

The 67-year-old Arizonan has blamed regulators for the 1989 collapse of Irvine-based Lincoln and his Phoenix real estate development company.

In his pending trial, Keating is charged with 20 counts of misleading bond buyers about American Continental’s safety and financial soundness. Though the case involves only 20 bonds valued at $1.8 million, thousands of small investors lost nearly $200 million on bonds they bought at Lincoln.

Lincoln’s collapse and Keating’s dealings with regulators and politicians have been well publicized, which lawyers believe makes the selection of unbiased jurors more difficult.

Nearly two-thirds of the prospective jurors begged off jury duty Tuesday, saying that the prospect of spending seven months in court would create personal hardships.

But 37 members said they would be able to serve until March.

Their first test was taking up to two hours to fill out a jury questionnaire with about 130 questions.

Ito will go through similar jury panels today and Thursday as he tries to find 100 to 120 prospective jurors who can remain for a lengthy trial. Those who don’t have hardships will continue the jury selection process on Aug. 26.