LOS ANGELES : 2 Excused From Jury Pool for Alleged Madam’s Trial
A judge Tuesday dismissed two more people from the pool of prospective jurors for the trial of accused Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss.
Superior Court Judge Judith Champagne excused one potential panelist after the woman failed to show up on time. The second was dismissed after telling the judge that she had to visit an ill acquaintance in San Francisco.
The latest dismissals bring the total of jurors excused to 18, leaving a pool of about 50.
Neither defense attorneys nor prosecutors have used any of their 10 peremptory challenges, which allow them to have jurors dismissed without citing a reason.
The atmosphere in the court was relaxed. One potential panelist sitting in the spectator section of the courtroom appeared to be dozing and another was reading a detective story.
Fleiss, who faces five counts of pandering and one count of possession of cocaine for sale, as well as a separate federal tax evasion case, smiled several times at the answers given by prospective jurors.
The 28-year-old daughter of a prominent Los Feliz physician, she could be sentenced to six years in prison for each of the pandering charges and a maximum of five years on the drug count if she is convicted.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
