The new O.J. Simpson juror reads self-improvement books, was portrayed as a racist by an ousted juror and once said Simpson was the only person with "a visible motive" to kill his ex-wife and her friend.
Juror No. 1427, a 28-year-old Hispanic woman, has been seen reading "When I Say No, I Feel Guilty" and "The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem" during breaks in testimony.The real estate appraiser was taken from the alternate pool Monday to replace a 26-year-old black female flight attendant who told the judge last month, "I can't take it anymore." The flight attendant's complaints were partly responsible for the dismissal of three deputies guarding the sequestered jurors.
The alternate pool is now down to five people, with months of testimony to go and more potential trouble looming. A 38-year-old white woman has asked to be dismissed to care for her sick husband, and Superior Court Judge Lance Ito has noted that a 28-year-old black woman hasn't been paying attention.
Ito may have to take serious steps to keep a full jury and prevent a mistrial, legal analysts said.
"He will simply not allow jurors to leave for normally accepted purposes. The personal problems will have to be very extreme before he excuses them," said Loyola University law professor Stan Goldman.
If the alternate pool is depleted and the number of jurors falls below 12, both sides must agree to continue or a mistrial will be declared.
After the juror was replaced, the trial ground on with the testimony of police forensic chemist Gregory Matheson. He returns to the stand today, and is likely to reveal blood test results that prosecutors say link Simpson to murder.
Matheson, assistant director of the police crime lab, spent most of his first day on the stand defending criminalists Dennis Fung and Andrea Mazzola, who collected the evidence.
The defense tried to portray them as careless during cross-examination last month, but Matheson said that even the sloppiest collection techniques could yield usable forensic information.
Simpson's trial on charges of murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman has been beset by jury problems, with seven members dismissed since sequestration began Jan. 11.
The replacement of the guards prompted a revolt by 13 panelists, who refused to hear testimony on April 21.
The new juror is a college graduate with a bachelor's degree in business administration. She was singled out as a source of racial tension by dismissed panelist Jeanette Harris, who met with the judge after she was ousted.
Harris, who is black, said the woman was once given special use of the phone and, along with a white juror, hit a black male juror in the head while he was watching a movie.