OJ Simpson’s legal team experienced their first loss last night. The lawyers for Simpson and his co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart fought to keep two African American females on the jury; however David Roger, the district attorney was trying to use two of his peremptory challenges to excuse the women. Each side has a certain number of peremptory challenges which they can use to exclude a juror without having to state a specific reason. However the D.A. did state that race had nothing to do with his reasons for wanting the women off the jury.

Each of the women had stated that they were very religious, and had indicated that they would either be more inclined to forgive rather than punish Simpson, or would have a hard time sending someone to prison. As a result of the jury’s final racial makeup, the defense tried to get the entire jury thrown out so they could start from scratch; however Judge Jackie Glass rejected their motion. Simpson’s trial will start with an all white jury. Two of the six alternates are African American.

An all-white jury will judge O.J. Simpson and a co-defendant on kidnapping and robbery charges after defense lawyers lost a contentious courtroom battle to include two African-American women on the panel.

Clark County District Judge Jackie Glass said she saw no evidence of a systematic exclusion of African-Americans. The current panel also is made up of nine women and three men. Defense attorneys for Simpson and co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart, who are both black, moved to dismiss the entire jury panel and start again but the judge rejected the motion.

Lawyers and the judge worked into the night to select the final group, using peremptory challenges, which are reserved for removing prospective jurors without stating a cause.

The final pool of prospects included a number of people who disagreed with Simpson’s acquittal in the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. But they said they could put that aside and weigh the Las Vegas case on its own merits.

[From the Huffington Post]

Simpson and Stewart have been charged with armed robbery, kidnapping, and assorted other crimes after breaking into a sports memorabilia collector’s hotel room with a team of other men last year. They could face life with the possibility of parole if they’re convicted of the kidnapping, and serious time if they’re convicted on the robbery counts. The opening statements begin on Monday, and the trial is expected to last about five weeks.

The term “race neutral” for David Roger‘s peremptory challenges obviously doesn’t necessarily mean race wasn’t a motivating – or even predominating – factor in his decision to release the two prospective jurors. But he doesn’t have to give a specific reason; and how the jury is made up is supposed to be a big tug of war between the two sides. Regardless of the race issue, I can’t imagine an attorney that wouldn’t have a problem with jurors who said they’d be hesitant to convict someone of the crime they’re about to try. Obviously you wouldn’t want those people on your jury if you could avoid it.

Here’s some older photos of O.J. outside the Clark County Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas in November 2007. Photographer: Mike Stotts. Images thanks to WENN.