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Dec 12, 2006 2:02 pm US/Eastern
Jurors In Worthington Murder Claim Racial Bias
BARNSTABLE (AP) ―
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Attorney Robert George (L) and Christopher McCowen (R)
CBS
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Christa Worthington was murdered in January 2002.
CBS/AP
Several jurors who convicted a black trash collector in the slaying of a white fashion writer made disparaging racial remarks during deliberations that at one point became so heated two female jurors had to be separated, according to documents filed Tuesday.
The attorney for Christopher McCowen, who was convicted last month in the January 2002 rape and murder of Christa Worthington, filed the sworn statements from three jurors about the conduct of three other jurors as part of a bid to get new trial.
"The statements clearly indicate that these jurors were racially biased against the defendant before deliberations ever started," attorney Robert George said.
Worthington, 46, a writer who had spent years working for Elle, Cosmopolitan and Women's Wear Daily, was found fatally stabbed in her Cape Cod home, with her 2-year-old daughter clinging to her body. McCowen, 34, admitted he had sex with her but said his friend killed her.
The original jury deliberated more than 28 hours over five days before declaring a deadlock. Judge Gary Nickerson sequestered them and ordered them to keep trying, but the next day he removed a juror who was recorded disparaging police and talking to her jailed boyfriend about media reports of the case.
The juror was replaced with an alternate, and two days later, the jury announced a guilty verdict.
George said three jurors contacted him after the verdict and told him that three other jurors made negative remarks about black people.
Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe did not immediately return a call for comment.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
