The judge in the O.J. Simpson civil trial dismissed an alternate juror after the man wrote a Christmas card to a childhood pal confiding his role in the famous case.
The middle-aged Hispanic man, who told lawyers during jury selection that "I call 'em as I see 'em," was booted by the judge Tuesday after his friend reported receiving the Christmas card, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity."I've warned you about talking about this case," Fujisaki told the remaining jurors as he announced that the man who wore badge No. 330 was no longer among them. "You are not to initiate any con-tact."
The alternate was the fifth member of the overall panel to be dismissed since the original jury was seated last October.
"It came to a shock to me today that something this minute would have got me thrown out, a little piece of paper, telling some deputy sheriff that I'm on the civil trial," the dismissed juror, Gilbert Bustillos, told KTLA-TV.
The juror flap punctuated a day marked by heated arguments between a defense witness and a plaintiff's lawyer, and testimony from two witnesses whose accounts never surfaced at Simpson's criminal trial.
Police officer Daniel Gonzalez, called to Simpson's estate at 5:20 a.m. on June 13, 1994, said he saw detectives Mark Fuhrman and Ronald Phillips lead Simpson's adult daughter, Arnelle, from her cottage to a fence where she was asked to identify her father's Bronco.
Then, Gonzalez said, the detectives told Arnelle that her stepmother had been killed and she collapsed in tears outside. He contradicted other detectives who said Arnelle led them to the house and was told about Nicole Simpson's death inside.
The other defense witness, driver Thomas Tallarino, said he was rollerblading past Nicole Simpson's condo before 9 p.m. on June 12, 1994, and saw a man with dark, straight hair - possibly a light-skinned Hispanic - crouching in some bushes. He couldn't describe the man in detail.