Prospective Jurors

About 140 prospective jurors were questioned yesterday in a Cumberland courtroom as the death-penalty murder trial began for a man charged with strangling a 17-year-old Carroll County girl in 1998. Jury selection was expected to take the rest of the week, with testimony beginning Monday in the trial of John A. Miller IV. Miller is accused of killing 17-year-old Shen D. Poehlman, who was found dead in her car at a Reisterstown apartment complex July 29, 1998 -- a day after Miller had asked the honor student to baby-sit for him, police said.

As expected, Judge Lance Ito has ruled that there is enough evidence against O. J. Simpson to require him to stand trial for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend, Ron Goldman. Jury selection is scheduled to begin next week.Actually the process is already under way. About 500 prospective jurors have returned questionnaires asking about their ability to serve on the case at least until February. About 1,000 prospective jurors are expected to be in the pool from which the 12 trial jurors and their alternates will be picked.

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold has waived his right to a jury in his criminal misconduct trial, clearing the way for attorneys to make opening statements Friday in a case that now will be heard by a single judge. The surprise move came during the second day of jury selection in the trial of Leopold, who faces charges of fraud and misconduct for allegedly using his taxpayer-funded police detail to run personal and political errands. Neither Leopold nor his attorneys explained the reason for the change of course or its timing.

INDIANAPOLIS -- One day into jury selection for the trial of Mike Tyson, the apparent strategies of the prosecution and defense became evident yesterday as attorneys questioned 20 prospective jurors in Courtroom 4 at the City and County Building.With every juror, Greg Garrison, the hired gun who will prosecute Tyson on charges of deviate sexual conduct, confinement and rape of an 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant July 19, hammered home two issues.Time after time, he said to the prospective jurors: "A woman's mistaken judgment who she is with or where she goes does not mean it is OK to get raped.

The administrative judge of the Baltimore Circuit Court said yesterday that a fellow judge's remarks to prospective jurors were "not an appropriate subject for jury instruction" and that he hopes the incident will not be repeated.Joseph H.H. Kaplan, the court's administrative judge, declined to say if any action was taken in light of Judge Thomas Ward's comments.He did say that Judge Edward J. Angeletti, who supervises the felony docket, had spoken to Judge Ward. Judge Angeletti declined to comment last night on that conversation.

Eight Carroll County residents who failed to show up for jury duty Oct. 30 were summoned to Circuit Court last week to explain why.Court officials said absenteeism is occasionally a problem among the 115 prospective jurors selected monthly from the county's registered voters. When eight people skipped duty the same day, jeopardizing a theft and battery trial, Judge Raymond E. Beck Sr. wanted to hear their excuses.Before calling each truant juror to the bench, Beck repeated the importance of civic responsibility and briefly explained citizens' rights and responsibilities.

ATLANTA - The tedious process of picking a jury to hear the murder charges against Ray Lewis recessed on a fractious note yesterday as defense attorneys and prosecutors skirmished for tactical advantage. At 6 p.m. -- the latest the proceedings have gone all week - the judge, chief prosecutor and an attorney for Lewis all had law books in hand and were debating how many prospective jurors need to be called. The judge finally sent everyone home for the night and said she would settle the matter this morning.

Because someone somewhere in a Baltimore law office hit the wrong button on a fax machine 10 days ago, the biggest asbestos trial in U.S. history has been stopped dead while lawyers argue over what to do now.On May 22 someone in the defense lawyers' office accidentally faxed psychological profiles of prospective jurors -- a tool in the defense's jury-selection strategy -- right into the hands of one of the plaintiffs' lawyers.At stake are 9,032 injury and wrongful death claims by plaintiffs who say they were hurt by exposure to asbestos.

Three weeks after a Howard County murder verdict was thrown into question by a juror's lack of U.S. citizenship, court officials and a state legislator say they are working to make sure the scenario is not repeated. Jury Commissioner Steve Merson has begun reviewing basic requirements for jury service during his morning talk to prospective jurors. At least one Howard prosecutor has added qualification inquiries to questions she wants judges to ask during voir dire, the process of interviewing prospective jurors in a courtroom.

Rodney King I, Imelda Marcos, the Menendez brothers, the Branch Davidians -- the visible examples of something wrong with our jury system come too numerously to mind.How can cases like these happen time after time? Is it that the jury system is hopelessly flawed and that its day has passed? In Britain, only 5 percent of all criminal cases and 1 per cent of all civil cases are handled by juries now.But in America, we are much more likely to dispense with the wisdom and prejudices of judges for the humanity and prejudices of a collection of our fellow citizens.