Strohmeyer jury process advances on fast track

Bill Gang

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 1998 | 10:54 a.m.

Eleven more potential jurors in the Jeremy Strohmeyer murder trial have been excused, five of those admitting they had formed opinions about the Long Beach teenager's guilt or have other problems that would prevent them from serving.

Progress in the case still is on track to seat a jury of 12 plus six alternates out of a pool of nearly 200 by Thursday or early Friday. There have been a total of 13 potential jurors excused as a result of the questioning process since jury selection began Monday.

Six of potential jurors excused Tuesday were result of "challenges" by prosecutors and defense attorneys, who can excuse up to eight jurors each for tactical or any other reason, excluding race or gender.

In that process, lawyers try to eliminate jurors who do not fit the profile they believe would be susceptible to their respective positions and arguments.

The makeup of the acceptable jurors has begun to change. The original 12 jurors had only one black member, but by day's end Tuesday, there were three blacks. District Attorney Stewart Bell cautioned the defense that they must be able to give race-neutral reasons for eliminating any of those three jurors.

Race is an issue in the trial because Strohmeyer, 19, is white while the victim in the May 25, 1997, rape and slaying at a Primm casino was a black girl, 7-year-old Sherrice Iverson of Los Angeles.

Only one of the three blacks on the provisional jury has indicated a belief that race played a role in the rape and murder.

Chief District Judge Myron Leavitt cut short Tuesday's jury selection process to give panelists an opportunity to vote in the Primary Election.

Opening statements are set to begin Tuesday. While the courtroom has limited seating for the public, the case is being broadcast nationally by Court TV and locally by Las Vegas One, on Prime Cable channels 1 and 39.