Court of Fast Resort : High School’s Mock Jury Selection Takes Cues From Simpson Case

Judge Lance Ito certainly would have been frustrated by the teen attorneys’ lack of courtroom savvy. But he would have been thrilled by their speed.

Twelve jurors and two alternates picked in the time it would take to dissect a frog.

Four weeks after beginning jury selection, the real attorneys in the O.J. Simpson murder trial are still at it.

In Tuesday’s second-most-scrutinized court proceeding, would-be barristers at James Monroe High School in North Hills grilled would-be jurors about their ability to rule fairly in the highly publicized trial. If Simpson’s future wasn’t on the line, good grades were--and the questioning was fierce.

“You stated that you thought O.J. Simpson was a good man and incapable of committing such a crime. Why?” shot prosecutor Kristi Harty, 15.

“Well,” 16-year-old potential juror Steve Ross replied sheepishly, “he looks like a good man.”

Dismissed.

To explore one of the least-understood aspects of a criminal trial, students in the school’s Law and Government Magnet program were mimicking the jury selection process currently taking place at the Criminal Courts Building in Downtown Los Angeles.

The magnet program’s course work ranges from criminal forensics to politics and often features guest seminars by real-life attorneys and politicians.

On Tuesday, as an appropriately somber “Judge” Bill Hence (a criminal law teacher who is awaiting the results of his own bar exam) looked on, attorneys--wearing chic business dresses and three-piece suits but still battling acne--examined and cross-examined potential jurors who had to be home at 10 on school nights.

The potential jurors had already filled out an abridged version of the Simpson jury questionnaire, and both defense and prosecution were poised to pounce on any bias in the surveys that went against their case.

You want unbiased jurors, said prosecutor Amy Messigian, 14, as long as they are a little more unbiased toward your side.

Would your being a University of Southern California football fan get in the way of convicting heroic alumnus Simpson, Harty asked one juror.

“First of all, Mr. Simpson played before I was born,” the youthful juror began.

Defense attorneys Antonio Moore and Kaz Gohlke could hardly wait to dismiss one juror who felt Simpson’s real defense team was “kissing up” to Judge Ito by constantly referring to him as “Your Honor” and saying “please and thank you” so often.

If certain moments were refreshingly free of legal machinations--and even had Judge Hence fighting a grin--many of the questions struck at the heart of the case and its possible social implications.

A Latina juror was asked if the Los Angeles riots of 1992 had altered her attitudes toward African Americans. Another was asked a similar question after noting on her questionnaire that she had once been followed by a black man. And the prosecution especially sought out those with a strong belief in the reliability of DNA testing.

While the real trial has taken on an air of sensationalism and involves two grisly slayings, it is also perfect for such a mock-jury selection, said instructor Mark Elinson.

“It’s the one time we’ve had the opportunity to deal with a case everyone is familiar with,” he said.

But that might be an overstatement. One of the would-be jurors set off a flurry of giggles when he conceded that he had no idea who O.J. Simpson is.

“I’m not much of a football fan,” he said.

* DNA TEST: Judge finds no proof that evidence delays were intentional. A1

* THE SPIN: Ito fits the Deukmejian judicial mold. B8