Dismissed!

SANTA MONICA: Four days into deliberations, jurors in the O.J. Simpson civil trial had to start all over again after Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki dismissed one juror for failure to disclose critical information. The 60-year-old woman, the only African-American on the jury, had not told attorneys during jury selection that her daughter was employed as a legal secretary at the Los Angeles District attorney's office, which prosecuted Simpson during his criminal trial. Her replacement, an Asian-American computer programmer, joins a jury that probably won't deliver a verdict any time soon. After spending 14 hours over the past three days poring over Bruno Magli photos and DNA evidence, Fujisaki has told jurors to start their deliberations again from scratch. Earlier speculation had been that Fujisaki would dismiss members over a letter sent to two jurors' homes that recommended an entertainment agent's services, but TIME's Elaine Lafferty reports the two incidents were not linked. The letter, written by Brenda Moran and Gina Rosborough, two jurors who served at the criminal trial, congratulates the new jurors on making it through a "trying experience" and extends a cosy invitation to discuss their thoughts on the verdict over coffee or dinner. Moran and Rosborough, both aspiring O.J. authors, also hinted that their agent might be able to help members of the civil jury to make their own deals. The two, who turned the letter over to their publisher, Lincoln Press, maintain that they never tried to interfere with jury deliberations.