Jurors

A juror's quest for spiritual guidance during a trial's deliberations threatened Friday to topple a death penalty sentence and raised ethical questions about balancing faith and civic duty. Defense attorneys for Edward Charles III demanded a mistrial after a juror testified that he "needed inspiration" when considering whether the Fullerton mechanic should receive a death sentence for killing his parents and younger brother.

In an attempt to get more people onto juries, the state Judicial Council on Thursday endorsed proposals to provide better pay, protect juror identity and limit the ability of lawyers to prune potential panelists before trials. The plan adopted by the council, the policymaking body for the state court system, must be approved by the Legislature before it can take effect.

A judge declared a mistrial Thursday after a jury couldn't decide if a Los Angeles man should be executed for masterminding a botched computer store robbery that ended in murder and later ordering the slaying of a key witness. Jurors deliberated three days before announcing they were deadlocked 7-5 in favor of a death sentence for William Clinton Clark, who has denied involvement in the killings.

A federal jury composed of eight whites, two Asians and two Latinos was picked Monday to try former Compton City Councilwoman Patricia A. Moore on charges of extortion and income tax fraud. Two African Americans and two whites were tentatively selected as alternates, but that could change if either side exercises its peremptory challenges when court resumes today. Moore, an African American, has complained about a dearth of blacks in the pool of more than 90 prospective jurors. U.S.

The chief defense lawyer for former Compton City Councilwoman Patricia Moore complained bitterly Friday that it has become "statistically impossible" to seat a black person on the jury being chosen to decide Moore's extortion case. As the third day of jury selection drew to an end, defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. told U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo B. Marshall he was "outraged and saddened" by the prospect of no African Americans on the jury.

Gov. Jim Guy Tucker asked for a new trial after learning a Whitewater juror married a man during the trial who had been denied clemency on a cocaine sentence by the governor. "It is stunning, and it shocks the conscience," Tucker said. Tucker's lawyers filed a motion Friday asking that his May 28 conviction on two felony counts be overturned and a new trial ordered.

Here on the front lines of the state's three-strikes law, passion and bureaucracy collide: A career burglar decides to risk it all by acting as his own lawyer. When he's found guilty, his fiancee stomps and shouts: "Damn! Damn!" Prosecutors at a weekly "three-strikes kaffeeklatsch" ponder evil and redemption as they flip through their files, deciding who faces 25 years to life and who gets a break.

About 200 people will be called on Sept. 16 to see who will be on the jury for the murder trial of Charles Rathbun, a photographer accused of sexually assaulting and killing Hermosa Beach model Linda Sobek during a November photo shoot. Torrance Superior Court Judge Donald F. Pitts on Thursday approved a list of 84 questions that potential jurors will have to answer to determine who will be selected. The questionnaire was sealed by the court.

Arguing that a letter from a juror suggests jury misconduct, defense attorneys for four Conejo Valley youths began laying the groundwork Monday to appeal murder convictions that carry life sentences for the four teenagers. Citing the letter sent one day after the verdict was reached, attorney Jill Lansing asked a judge to release the names and addresses of jury members to allow a probe into possible improprieties. Judge Lawrence J.

A judge said Monday he is leaning toward granting a new sentencing trial to triple murderer Edward Charles III but needs time to consider whether a juror's conversation with a fellow church member affected a death penalty verdict. Orange County Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey said he will make a ruling Friday, which could lead to a third penalty trial for the 24-year-old Fullerton mechanic.