The Nation - News from June 29, 1989

A juror in the Oliver L. North trial testified that she gave incorrect background information to the court because she forgot that her brother had been sent to prison for armed robbery. Tara Leigh King, who was on the panel that convicted North on three Iran-Contra charges last month, had said “no” when asked on a jury selection form whether “you or any member of your immediate family” had been involved in any court proceeding or investigation. “When I filled this out, I had forgotten about it,” King said during a 90-minute hearing. North’s lawyers contend that her misstatement “raises serious questions as to juror bias and impartiality.” U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell said he will rule today whether the jury was tainted by the events.