14 Tossed From Jury Pool in Jackson Sex Abuse Trial

Urged on by the judge, attorneys in the Michael Jackson child-molestation trial moved briskly Tuesday, tossing 14 people out of the jury pool for various reasons.

Before the trial, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville and attorneys on both sides estimated that it would take a month to seat 12 jurors and eight alternates. As of Tuesday, it appeared they could do it ahead of schedule, despite two recent weeklong breaks, one when Jackson became ill with the flu and another for a death in his lawyer’s family.

By the end of the day, prosecutors had used five of their 10 peremptory challenges, and defense attorneys had used six. In a peremptory challenge, an attorney may dismiss a prospective juror without stating a reason. By contrast, “challenges for cause” are unlimited and often are invoked when a prospective juror is clearly biased or has an obvious conflict of interest.

The only contested dismissal on Tuesday was the prosecution’s ouster of the only African American in the first batch of potential jurors, and one of about half a dozen African Americans in the entire jury pool of 243.

The soft-spoken woman had told attorneys that she did not know much about the case, although a jury questionnaire she filled out indicated that she had been following it closely. She expressed no strong opinion on whether children can be manipulated into lying by their parents -- a question that Jackson’s lead attorney, Thomas A. Mesereau Jr., explored with each juror.

However, the woman, who described herself as a homemaker and a mother, said someone “very close” to her had been falsely accused of a sex crime by his girlfriend. The woman later recanted, she said.

No reason was stated publicly for the defense team’s opposition to her removal, and Melville overruled their objection.

The potential jurors dismissed by the defense included:

* A woman who teaches high school students with emotional problems and learning disabilities. During questioning, she said she had seen a number of youths “make up stories” to get attention.

* A researcher for a university planning department who said he regularly reads major newspapers on the Internet. He said he worried that defendants in high-profile trials might get a better shot at justice than those in less-publicized trials. He sat in the jury box holding a John Grisham courtroom novel.

Among the jury prospects tossed out by prosecutors were:

* An 18-year-old self-described “karaoke junkie.” The young man, who volunteers at a local homeless shelter, said in an answer to Mesereau that he thought “lawyers are cool.”

* A former school attendance officer who said she was close to a person currently being prosecuted in Santa Barbara County. She also said that she had been falsely accused of speeding by a California Highway Patrol officer.

Early in the day, Melville announced the names of several dozen people who might be additional witnesses in the case.

They included singer Smokey Robinson, actor Macaulay Culkin and actor-comedian Eddie Murphy.