There were victims of domestic violence and a man who thinks it's sometimes justified, sports fans and the football-illiterate, people disgusted by TV talk shows and a fan of the National Enquirer.
Judging from their responses on written questionnaires, O.J. Simpson's potential jurors have one thing in common: They haven't escaped publicity about the case."I am not looking for hermits," Superior Court Judge Lance Ito warned the first batch of potential jurors. "We would be very suspicious of a Rip van Winkle that awoke yesterday and just learned of this case."
None of the 84 people called into court Wednesday claimed to have missed news reports about the June 12 knife killings of Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Many said in the questionnaires that they were glued to televisions as Simpson's Ford Bronco meandered along Southern California freeways during his flight from police on June 17.
The prospects were questioned about their beliefs, backgrounds and knowledge of the case. Some of the 79-page questionnaires they filled out last month were released, providing a glimpse into their thoughts and lives.
"I'm inclined to believe him guilty at this point," wrote a 68-year-old Los Angeles woman. But a 56-year-old South Bay woman wrote: "More likely not guilty than guilty."
Many promised to keep an open mind. Some indicated that they took allegations that Simpson is a killer in stride, just another story in a city struck by earthquakes, riots and brush fires.
"Living in L.A., this type of news is not surprising to me anymore," wrote a 32-year-old cleaning man from West Los Angeles.
The responses came out as the long, grueling task of face-to-face interviews began in Ito's court. By law, the judge is the only person who may question jurors, but Ito said he would allow questions from lawyers because of the "unusual nature" of the case and intense media coverage.
Five prospects were excused before they were questioned. Only four people were individually questioned, prompting Ito to say he wanted to speed up the process. One of the four was dismissed after it was revealed he is an accountant in charge of tallying the Sheriff's Department's costs for the Simpson case.
The other three were kept in the pool. One was a office cashier who said she found out who Simpson was after his ex-wife was killed.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
O.J. losing appeal
Americans are more interested in news of Haiti, Iraq and Congress than the O.J. Simpson murder trial, according to a new poll.
The proportion of Americans who are following the Simpson trial "very closely" has dropped to 25 percent, from 48 percent in June - when Simpson was arrested - and 30 percent in September, according to the survey by the Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press.
The survey, which was released Wednesday, found that only 53 percent of those asked knew Simpson could face life imprisonment rather than the death penalty if convicted.
By contrast, 61 percent knew Congress passed a crime bill this year, and 58 percent were aware it gave up trying to pass health-care reform in 1994.