Officials probing possible jury tampering in Simpson trial
March 30, 1996
Web posted at: 12:10 p.m. ESTLOS ANGELES (CNN) -- The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office has begun an investigation into possible jury tampering in the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
"We received information and that information is being investigated," said spokeswoman Suzanne Childs. "But, it is not a formal, full-blown investigation."
Childs said that the information received by the district attorney's office concerned an anonymous letter sent to Judge Lance Ito accusing juror Francine Florio-Bunten of seeking a book deal. Ito dismissed Florio-Bunten for misconduct, but the dismissal was not a direct result of the letter.
Childs was responding to a CBS "60 Minutes" broadcast slated for Sunday night on CBS focusing on the letter and its impact on the trial.
The letter was purportedly from a receptionist for a literary agent who claimed that her boss had reached an agreement with the juror and her husband for a book on the trial.
The "60 Minutes" report, however, could not find the receptionist in more than 50 literary agencies in Los Angeles. None of the agencies said they had any dealings with Florio-Bunten or her husband.
Prosecutor Christopher Darden, promoting his book about the trial "In Contempt" in Washington, said that the letter looked and sounded "bogus." (393K AIFF sound or 393K WAV sound)
"I am not suggesting that I know the specific source of this letter," Darden said. "I have my suspicions. At this point, that's all they are."
Darden said that if the letter's source had been investigated at the time it was received, and the letter were found to be fake, a mistrial could have been declared.
The District Attorney's office has not yet begun a formal investigation into the jury tampering allegations, but is trying to determine if such an action is warranted.
Even if prosecutors find evidence that the Simpson jury was tampered with, prosecutors said, Simpson cannot be retried for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman because of "double jeopardy" rules. Simpson was acquitted of murder charges on October 3.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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