Word: ito
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...Ito Steps on the Accelerator...
Having quelled a jury mutiny and narrowly averted a mistrial, Judge Lance Ito took heed of complaints about the turgid pace of the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Ito told attorneys to speed up their questioning, tossed out some obstreperous spectators and even said the lunch break would be shortened. Testimony was largely taken up by the defense's exhaustive efforts to show that a police criminalist was both incompetent and an integral player in a complex police conspiracy against Simpson...
...feeling that they have lost their privacy and, like O.J., are under arrest. Says noted defense attorney Leslie Abramson: "They're being guarded by people who are used to treating everyone like prisoners. They need crisis counseling.'' But, adds Abramson, "there is not a shred of possibility that Ito, who is a smart fellow, is going to declare a mistrial over the defense's objections without some legal justification. And so far, I haven't seen one.'' (Any mistrial not sanctioned by the defense could prevent Simpson's being tried again...
What courtroom observers have seen, however, is a group of very fragile people. Juror No. 453, the flight attendant, has been staring dejectedly down at her monitor for weeks, indifferent to the proceedings. When the jurors left the courtroom on Friday after their session with Ito, which was to resume Monday morning--several seemed to have tears in their eyes. In one sense, the fact that 13 jurors (including the white woman and black man alleged to have been involved in a racial incident) joined the protest is heartening evidence that the group is bonding, as most juries...
...What Ito will try to do is placate the jury without tainting their deliberations. Now that he has allowed the panelists to air their grievances, "to put the genie back in the bottle is much more difficult,'' says Minnesota's Penrod. "If I were in his situation, I would bring the jury in and underscore the seriousness of their undertaking and the fact that their attention really needs to be fastened on the courtroom.'' Then, perhaps, the judge could do a better job of picking up the pace and give them something to hold their attention from one grueling...