WSB's Veronica Waters reports Judge Richard Story has qualified 17 potential jurors so far; of those, seven are black and 10 are white. Attorneys need 36 people in the jury pool in order to start striking the panel down to 12 jurors and four alternates. Lawyers believe they will have a jury chosen by week's end.

In December, 240 potential jurors from the metro Atlanta area were given questionnaires; 50 were excused right away for hardships. This week, Judge Story is questioning the 190 or so remaining to look for insurmountable bias or other reasons which might keep a potential juror from serving.

The questionnaire quizzed respondents on items including whether they felt Bill Campbell hurt or helped Atlanta's image when he served as Mayor; whether they or a spouse participates in casino or online gambling, dog or horse racing, lotteries, or sports pools; whether minorities are treated differently by law enforcement; and whether they'd already formed an opinion about this case.

Potential jurors were also asked to give their feelings on race relations in Atlanta, affirmative action, gambling, strip clubs, and witnesses who have plea deals or who have been granted immunity.

So far, those who have expressed the opinion that they think former Mayor Bill Campbell is guilty of corruption are white. Several blacks in the jury pool had heard of the case but said they had not already decided Campbell is guilty. Several potential jurors, both black and white, answered on their questionnaire that they believed minorities are treated differently by law enforcement, but none of those said they would hold the government to a higher standard of proof because Campbell is a black defendant.

Among the people excused Tuesday by Judge Story were a woman who said she did not think she could set aside her pre-formed opinion—though she did not say what that opinion was; a man who said his job required him to fly up to 40 weeks each year; a woman who has surgery scheduled for February; and a man who said the IRS "hounded" him and several relatives after his marketing business failed.

Asked if his experience with the IRS had put such a bad taste in his mouth that he would hold it against the government in this case, the man said, "No, just the IRS," eliciting laughter from the observers.

Defense attorney Billy Martin made a motion to excuse the man, even as he acknowledged that Juror #22's existing prejudices or negative reactions might be toward the prosecution.

"We're trying to put people in the jury box who are fair and impartial," Martin said. The judge agreed, saying putting that man in the jury pool was "too great a risk."

Juror #5 was a man who worked for a city contractor which had performed jobs for United Water and MARTA. The man said he had also worked directly with then-Mayor Campbell on a landscaping job at the Mayor's house.

"I liked him. He was pretty cool to me," the man said. He said he didn't think his "good-guy feelings" about Campbell would affect how he heard the evidence, but told the Judge he was afraid that if he was put on the jury that when deliberations began, "I guess I'd see myself as kind of an advocate for him." He said he thought it might be difficult not to share his personal experience with the Mayor at that time and told the judge he didn't think he should serve. Both sides, and the judge, agreed he should be excused.

Another moment of levity came when an attorney who does taxes and estate planning came in to be questioned. When Judge Story asked him about how he felt about serving on this jury, the man said that on the questionnaire he'd started to write, "It's a lot better than being indicted."

The last person to be qualified for the jury pool Tuesday was a man who said he remembered Neal Boortz "ranting and raving" about something Campbell-related on the radio. He said he could be open to hearing the testimony fairly and said he didn't know specifics about the case or what Boortz had been saying.

"Boortz was all the time complaining that Mr. Campbell wouldn't come on his show," recalled Juror #40.

Tues. 1/18/06