Man who called Simpson ‘murderer’ advances in jury pool

By Melissa Arseniuk

Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008 | 3:32 p.m.

O.J. Simpson’s defense attorneys clashed with Judge Jackie Glass Thursday as the judge refused to dismiss a prospective juror who admitted he made intentionally opinionated statements about Simpson last month on a sworn affidavit.

When asked about O.J. Simpson on his Aug. 14 juror survey, the man wrote, "He's a murderer. He got away with it."

As jury selection entered its fifth hour Thursday, he said he had changed his tune.

The former police officer previously stated that he thought Simpson "got away with double-murder," but later told Simpson’s defense attorney, Gabriel Grasso, that his answers to the initial juror survey were deliberately excessive.

“I wanted to get out of (jury duty),” the man said. "I was hoping they would go, 'Oh, this guy is crazy.'”

Simpson’s other lawyer, Yale Galanter, took exception to the potential juror’s contradictory statements.

The attorney’s frustration was obvious. “He lied on a sworn affidavit,” Galanter pronounced loudly. “He's not a qualified prospective juror.”

Glass sided with the prosecution, however, and declined to dismiss the potential juror after he assured the court that he would be an unbiased and impartial juror.

He now sits in a pool of 40 potential jurors that soon will be narrowed down to a 12-member jury, with six additional alternate jurors.

Simpson’s defense attorneys will have the opportunity to use one of their four peremptory challenges to have the man removed from the jury if he is selected.

Peremptory motions are to begin at 4 p.m. Thursday.