Mistrial Denied, Shoemaker Jury Is Sworn In

Race became an issue in the Bill Shoemaker trial Thursday when a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge denied a mistrial motion by the defense, which said that one of Shoemaker’s attorneys was excluding too many Asian Americans from the jury.

Neil Papiano, who represents Shoemaker, dismissed five Asian Americans among the first eight jury candidates he excused. Papiano was allowed 14 preemptory challenges--exclusions of prospective jurors without cause--in this trial, which will decide whether Shoemaker is entitled to compensation for alleged medical negligence after his single-car accident in 1991.

Shoemaker, who won a record 8,833 races as a jockey before starting a training career in 1990, was left a quadriplegic after the accident.

After hearing Papiano’s explanation about his jury challenges, Judge Frederick J. Lower Jr. disallowed the defense attorney Michael A. O’Flaherty motion for a mistrial.

At least three of the doctors being sued by Shoemaker are of Asian descent. Papiano told the court that his exclusions were not related to race. His reasons for rejecting the prospective jurors, he said, included knowledge of the case through the press, personal involvement in an auto accident, and an incomplete understanding of questions posed by attorneys.

At the end of the day, jury selection ended with seven men and five women, plus five female alternates, being sworn in.

Testimony will be heard starting Monday at 10:30 a.m. The trial is expected to last six weeks.