Views eliminate 64 from Blake jury pool

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Sixty-four prospective jurors in the Robert Blake murder case were eliminated Tuesday from consideration after indicating strong views in written questionnaires.
With Blake absent from the courtroom, his attorney and a prosecutor conferred with the judge and agreed on dismissals from a pool of 123 prospects. Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp ordered another panel of about 60 prospects to fill out forms today.
Selection will continue until the final 12 jurors and alternates are chosen. Attorneys have estimated testimony will begin Dec. 1.
Attorneys and their jury consultants spent the past week studying answers to the questionnaires.
Although the forms were not made public it was possible to discern from the discussion in court that most excused panelists expressed strong views on issues including abortion, religion and whether they thought Blake should testify.
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