New Trial Date for Egyptian Defendant

A judge Thursday set an Oct. 29 trial date for an Egyptian citizen whose earlier death penalty trial was postponed after several jurors said they could not be fair to a Middle Eastern defendant.

John Ghobrial is accused in the sexual assault and murder of a 12-year-old La Habra boy. A judge postponed his trial last month after one-quarter of the jury pool said they would be biased against Ghobrial because of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon, which have been blamed on Muslim extremists.

Judge John J. Ryan requested more than 1,000 prospective jurors for the trial. In a written questionnaire, jurors will be asked to explain their feelings about Arab Americans and how they were affected by the attacks.

Prosecutors allege that Ghobrial struck up a friendship with Juan Delgado, a sixth-grade student who lived in the neighborhood. They said the boy was last seen alive one afternoon in March 1998, while walking with a one-armed man carrying a basketball.

A few days later, neighbors noticed blood leaking from chunks of concrete scattered on front lawns in the quiet neighborhood where Ghobrial lived. Authorities later alleged that Ghobrial carved up the boy’s body with a meat cleaver and embedded his limbs in concrete.

His trial was postponed last month after nearly 20 prospective jurors said they were so angry about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that they could not be fair to an Arab defendant.

One prospective panelist said he knew someone whose son is among the 5,302 missing at the World Trade Center. Another said her brother-in-law was in New York searching for survivors. Some expressed hostility toward Ghobrial.

Even those in the pool who said they could be fair expressed doubts that an impartial jury could be selected at this point.