THE O.J. SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL : Juror Wants Out; Ito Dissuades Him : Simpson case: The man changes his mind after being promised that trial will end next month, sources say.

More than eight months after being sequestered, another juror in the murder trial of O.J. Simpson reached the end of his rope and told the judge he needed to be excused, only to be persuaded to stay by promises that the trial would end in mid-September, sources close to the case said Wednesday.

According to the sources, the complaining juror was a middle-aged black man who had previously come under investigation for an alleged incident of spousal abuse, but was cleared for further service. In recent weeks, he has taken few notes, one of many jurors whose patience has seemed to be wearing thin.

Faced with the threat of losing another member of a jury that only has two alternates left, Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito summoned attorneys for both sides to his chambers Wednesday morning. After meeting privately with the judge, lawyers emerged with few details beyond assurances that the problem had been solved.

“Whatever problems there were with jurors have been taken care of,” lead Simpson trial lawyer Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. said outside court, declining to elaborate.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Marcia Clark was equally circumspect. “Everything’s fine,” was all she said to reporters.

Sources said, however, that the juror had relented on his demand to be excused after being promised that the case was winding to a conclusion and would wrap up sometime around the middle of next month. Some analysts believe that prediction is optimistic, but most believe the case will go to the jury by the end of September.

The juror emergency forced Ito to break from his consideration of the case’s most pressing issue, the question of whether the jury will be allowed to hear tape-recordings of recently retired Detective Mark Fuhrman spewing racial epithets, boasting of police brutality and discussing the willingness of police officers to lie for one another.

Sources said Ito had indicated that he might rule late today--the second day in a row in which no testimony will be heard--or Friday. The judge is examining the admissibility of each of Fuhrman’s comments individually, an exacting task that has required his full attention.

The tapes have triggered an enormous public outcry, and the fallout continued Wednesday. State Sens. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) and Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) wrote to Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti urging his office to file perjury charges against Fuhrman, who testified under oath that during the past 10 years he had never used the same racial epithet that the tapes and transcripts feature him uttering 41 times.

“Mr. Fuhrman’s statements have damaged the credibility of our justice system and underscored the fears of many people in Los Angeles that they are targets of police brutality and racist hatred,” the letter said. “Prosecuting Mr. Fuhrman is the only way the law enforcement Establishment of Los Angeles can prove it is truly repulsed by Mr. Fuhrman’s racist statements and his blatant disregard for the criminal justice system.”

City Council members approved a resolution written by Councilwoman Laura Chick condemning Fuhrman’s comments as “reprehensible examples of outrageous and unacceptable behavior,” and the No. 2 ranking official at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Undersheriff Jerry Harper, said the Fuhrman tapes have caused problems for “every law enforcement agency in America and every uniformed officer.”

“It is not only a problem for the LAPD, it is our problem as well,” said Harper, filling in for the vacationing Sheriff Sherman Block, at the department’s monthly news conference.

Declaring that law enforcement agencies must remove officers who exhibit racist attitudes or take actions based on prejudice, Harper added:

“We are critical of lawyers, of judges, of the media, of the Board of Supervisors and of legislators. But most of the damage done to us is done by ourselves. That is the irony and tragedy of the present situation.”

Harper said that in his 33-year career, he has observed only a “tiny minority” of sheriff’s deputies with such views as Fuhrman. But he said he plans to admonish 90 men and women cadets graduating tonight from the Sheriff’s Academy to avoid sinking into cynicism, or worse, racism, as they go forward in their careers.

Harper also expressed concern for the peace of the Los Angeles community in light of strong feelings on the part of groups that have come in for ridicule on the Fuhrman tapes. He said the Sheriff’s Department has contingency plans for dealing with any “spontaneous situations” that may occur during the Labor Day weekend or later.

A number of emotional telephone calls from unhappy people have been coming into the LAPD and to a lesser extent the Sheriff’s office, Harper added, but so far there is no evidence of anything happening on the streets.

He remains hopeful “the people will take this in their stride,” but just in case, deputies will be deployed at customary full strength during the holiday in beach areas where drinking and high jinks sometimes inflame tensions.

“There are no special precautions or enhanced steps being taken,” he said. “We believe what we have done in the past is adequate and we have no plans to add to that. But we are always prepared for contingencies.”

At the center of the controversy was Fuhrman, who has returned from his new home in Idaho and is in Los Angeles in case he is recalled to the witness stand. His criminal defense attorney, Darryl Mounger, has suggested that Fuhrman might invoke his right under the 5th Amendment not to incriminate himself, but Fuhrman’s private investigator, Anthony Pellicano, said Wednesday that he has advised his client to testify.

“My recommendation to Mark was to take the stand, be a man and tell the truth, explain the reason for saying he never used the word and take whatever consequences come for the good of the case and the benefit of the victims,” Pellicano said. “I told him: ‘You’ll take a lot of heat, a lot of criticism, a lot of ridicule. But stand up there for the good of the case and the good of the victims.’ ”

Although Pellicano has said he too was repulsed by Fuhrman’s comments, the private investigator reiterated his vehement insistence that Fuhrman never planted evidence in the Simpson case. The comments of his client, Pellicano added, were made long ago, at a difficult time in Fuhrman’s life.

“He hated everybody--his bosses, his co-workers, people who didn’t think his way, everybody,” Pellicano said. “His biases and his attitudes are something he has to live with for the rest of his life.”

Times staff writers Tim Rutten and Henry Weinstein contributed to this story.