Judge Dismisses Lone Black Juror in Simpson Trial

The only black woman on the O.J. Simpson civil jury was dismissed Friday at the defense’s request, forcing the panel to scotch 14 hours of deliberations and start from scratch--and prompting the judge to warn that the trial was in danger of unraveling.

Superior Court Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki called the remaining jurors into court late Friday to deliver an address that was part lecture, part pep talk, part guilt trip. Saying he was relying on their integrity to bring the case to a close, he told them that they must not let themselves be tainted by the relentless publicity churning around the trial.

Reluctantly, Fujisaki then ordered the jurors to stop watching television, listening to the radio and reading newspapers for the duration of the case. They had already been instructed to avoid Simpson coverage, but Fujisaki expanded his order to a blanket ban on news. He even demanded that they ask someone to screen their calls and open their mail to guard against unexpected pressures.

“It’s unfortunate we have come to this pass,” Fujisaki told the jurors. “But sometimes in a long trial, because it’s so long and because of the inordinate amount of interest that apparently exists, things unravel. I am trusting you to make sure this case does not unravel and we reach, if we can, a completion.”

Fujisaki’s speech capped a hectic day that began with the ouster of juror Rosemary Caraway, a retired African American woman. An alternate, an Asian man, replaced her on the panel.

Caraway was dismissed for failing to inform the court that her daughter works as a secretary in the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

She did describe other potential conflicts of interest on a pretrial questionnaire, noting that her deceased husband had worked in law enforcement and indicating that she had been the victim of crime several times. She also mentioned that her daughter is a legal secretary. But she did not disclose that her daughter has spent at least 10 years working in the office that unsuccessfully prosecuted Simpson on double murder charges in 1995.

That fact surfaced only after Caraway had been deliberating with her fellow jurors for 2 1/2 days. The district attorney’s office realized late Thursday that secretary Catherine Caraway’s mother was on the Simpson jury, spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said. “We immediately communicated this information to the court,” Gibbons added.

At a closed-door session with the judge, the plaintiffs argued hard to keep Caraway on the jury, according to a source close to the case. But Fujisaki sided with the defense and bumped her. He did not, however, uphold the defense’s motion for a mistrial. Nor did he grant the plaintiffs’ request to sequester the panel until it reaches a verdict.

Caraway’s dismissal changed the gender and racial makeup of the Simpson jury, which now consists of six men and six women and includes nine whites, one Asian, one Latina and one Jamaican immigrant who described himself as half black, half Asian. Three alternates remain.

The plaintiffs’ evident dismay at losing Caraway bucked the conventional wisdom--supported by both anecdotes and polls--that African American women tend to hold strong pro-Simpson views. Caraway did say before the trial that she wondered if Simpson could have committed such a horrible crime. But she also expressed deep sympathy for the victims’ parents.

“I think this points out that people should not be judging jurors by the color of their skin,” said legal analyst Laurie Levenson, who has tracked the trial closely. “Everyone’s stereotypes are just not accurate when you look at the actual attitudes of the jurors.”

Even so, some analysts said that losing Caraway could taint any jury verdict against Simpson. “There will always be a footnote if the verdict goes against Simpson that this was a [mostly] white jury,” attorney Steven Madison said.

The new juror, a computer programmer who looks to be in his 30s, said during jury selection that he did not think the bloody gloves could have been Simpson’s because they did not fit his hands. But he promised to be neutral in evaluating whether Simpson killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman.

After seating the Asian man, Fujisaki ordered members of the reconstituted panel to put out of their minds all their discussions of the previous 14 hours and begin deliberations anew. Fujisaki did not tell them why Caraway was dismissed, saying only: “A juror has been excused for legal cause. You are not to speculate as to the reason why.”

Others, however, were free to speculate--and did so. Reports of the reason for Caraway’s ouster quickly spread among the reporters and onlookers gathered outside the Santa Monica courthouse. Shortly after, the district attorney’s office released a statement confirming that Caraway’s daughter works in the office.

Furious, Fujisaki called the attorneys into his chamber just before lunch to admonish them to stop leaking information to the media.

Meanwhile, the new jury got down to business, deliberating for about five hours Friday. Members did not request any exhibits or ask to review any testimony. When they emerged about 4:15 p.m. to hear the judge’s new orders, several of them looked drained.

“Since I have decided not to sequester you, not to put you in lock-down,” Fujisaki told them, “I continue to [rely on] your good faith. . . . Do I have your solemn promise you will obey my instructions?”

All 15 jurors and alternates nodded, and some said “yes” aloud.

The judge then excused the jurors for the weekend on a hopeful note, telling them: “Without television, maybe you’ll be able to read that novel you’ve been wanting to read.”

Times staff writer Alan Abrahamson contributed to this story.