Juror Furor : Television: KCAL anchor Pat Harvey was not expecting any bombshells from her interview with a former Simpson panelist. But an uproar followed.

It was supposed to be a routine interview, nothing special, two or three minutes tops. No bombshells or uproars expected.

But when dismissed O.J. Simpson juror Jeanette Harris told KCAL-TV Channel 9 anchor Pat Harvey on live television that the prosecution was “just spinning wheels” and amounting to “a whole lot of nothing,” those plans not only spun out the window, but Harvey and Harris landed in the center of one of the most tumultuous chapters in the controversial case.

It was teeth that brought Harris and Harvey together for the exclusive interview--they share the same dentist. Harvey said the dentist had told her that one of his patients was a Simpson juror but would not say which one. When Harris was dismissed, the dentist called Harvey and offered to bring them together.

Harvey and Harris were reeling Thursday from reaction to the half-hour interview Wednesday, which prompted grumbling from the prosecution and defense. Legal experts speculated about a possible mistrial because of Harris’ outspoken allegations about the lack of jury monitoring by sheriff’s bailiffs, racial disharmony on the panel, and her feeling that Simpson could not get a fair trial.

Harris was trying to keep out of sight at her Inglewood home Thursday while news crews swarmed outside, eager for another morsel about the jury. Meanwhile, Harvey, the latest in a stream of journalists who have suddenly found themselves in the eye of the Simpson trial’s storm, spent much of the day fielding interviews with television and radio stations and national magazines.

KCAL replayed clips of the interview several times Thursday and repeated the entire segment during its regular evening broadcast. Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito asked the station for a tape of the interview.

Harvey, KCAL’s main anchor, said she knew that she had a hot property with the exclusive Harris interview, but was not aware of its impact until Thursday morning when she and her daughter were eating breakfast.

“She turned on the TV and saw mommy on every station and asked me, ‘What did you do?’ ” Harvey said. “I thought, boy, this is huge.”

Harris said she was dismissed when Ito told her that he had determined that she was a victim of domestic violence. But Harris said her husband has never hit her.

Harvey said she was surprised and unprepared for Harris’ comments.

“She and her husband came to the studio a couple of hours before she was to go on the air, and the things that she said on the air did not come up. But once she started talking in the interview, I had a feeling she wanted to talk, that there were a lot of things that she wanted to say. We had no idea what to expect, but we just stayed with it.”

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Harvey added that she talked to Harris briefly early Thursday and that the former juror was “overwhelmed. She had no idea the story would be this huge. Now she just wants to be quiet. She would rather be left alone.”

Despite Harris’ unexpected comments--ranging from criticism of Los Angeles Police Detective Mark Fuhrman and of Denise Simpson, the sister of Nicole Brown Simpson, to her glowing comments about O.J. Simpson and defense attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.--Harvey said she did not believe that the interview would result in a mistrial.

She said she did not believe that Harris had a hidden agenda or was trying to sabotage the trial.

“With everything’s that’s already happened in this case, I don’t think this should really change things,” Harvey said. “She is only one juror. Tracy Kennedy (another dismissed Simpson juror) had another opinion than she did. Also, she said she had only wanted to talk about the domestic violence issue. She never said anything about being ticked off or that she was angry about being dismissed.”

As for her newfound role as a character in the Simpson drama, Harvey said: “I do not like becoming part of a story I’m covering. But I am glad that Jeanette felt comfortable talking to me.”