A stern judge told potential jurors in Manuel Noriega's drug and racketeering trial to leave politics outside the courtroom. Some candidates acknowledged they would have a hard time doing so.
U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler and the lead prosecutor began grilling a panel of 115 people Thursday.Jury selection resumed Friday with an announcement by the judge to the prospective jurors that the next court session would be Tuesday, instead of Monday, because of the Jewish holiday, Rosh Hashana.
On opening day, the judge noted the widespread publicity surrounding the case since Noriega's 1988 indictment and the U.S. invasion of Panama the following year - then told the panel to ignore it.
"As far as I'm concerned, there will be nothing about this case that has anything to do with politics," Hoeveler said.
The judge has said he hoped to seat a jury in a few days - but both sides acknowledge it will be hard finding an impartial panel.
All the potential jurors said they had heard of Noriega. In subsequent individual questioning, several expressed doubts about being able to judge him fairly.
"Deep down inside I know I'm prejudiced against the defendant," Guyanese immigrant Raymond Cheddi told lead prosecutor Michael Sullivan.
Lesbia Reyna, whose husband Dr. Roberto Reyna ran the Miami-based Panamanian Human Rights Committee, rose when the judge asked if anyone present knew Noriega.
"I know him as a violator of human rights," she said. The committee frequently denounced Noriega as a dictator.
Both prosecution and defense are basing their evaluation of the jurors in part on a 27-page questionnaire mailed to 1,200 people by the court. Some 447 respondents are on call.
Lead defense attorney Frank Rubino has said 60 percent or more of the questionnaires had negative comments about his client. Sullivan said a review of the questionnaires "only makes me think we're going to have even more difficulty than I thought" seating an impartial panel.
Noriega, wearing four-star epaulets on each shoulder of his brown, short-sleeved military uniform, sat at the defense table during jury selection, talking animatedly with his lawyers and poring over the juror list. Behind him in the gallery sat his wife, Felicidad, and his three daughters, who received special visas to attend the trial.