Several Prospective Jurors Say Kaczynski Is Guilty

SACRAMENTO —  Theodore Kaczynski heard several potential jurors Thursday declare that they already thought he was guilty of being the notorious Unabomber.

“It appears he’s the one who did it,” said one mustachioed panelist under questioning by U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. But the man was not discharged. The identity of all prospective jurors is secret.

Another potential juror, a self-described news junkie, had a similar view of the neatly groomed Kaczynski.

“I think he’s pretty well guilty and that’s my opinion,” said the man, perched on the witness stand directly across from Kaczynski, who was sitting ramrod straight at the defense table.

To Burrell’s apparent surprise, the man acknowledged that he had ignored the judge’s admonition not to read or listen to anything about the case. “It just went over my head. I like to listen to the news.” He was dismissed.

After two days of jury selection, 14 prospective panelists have survived the first cut. They are among a pool of 600 potential jurors who are being called to federal court in Sacramento.

Kaczynski, 55, a Harvard-trained mathematician, is standing trial in connection with two fatal bombings in Sacramento and two other blasts in which two academics were maimed. He has pleaded not guilty.

In another development Thursday, a federal magistrate ordered the government to turn over an unidentified piece of evidence that may cast some doubt on Kaczynski’s role in the blast in which computer scientist David Gelernter was seriously injured in New Haven, Conn.

“The redacted evidence here . . . when viewed in isolation, tends to detract from the ‘Unabomber’s’ participation in the Gelernter bombing,” said Magistrate Gregory Hollows. “It should be disclosed to the defense.”

Also on Thursday, federal prosecutors said the trial may not last as long as first predicted. The prosecutors previously had indicated that their case would last about 10 weeks. Thursday they shaved that estimate to six weeks.

Outside the courthouse, defense attorney Judy Clarke said the jury selection might be wrapped up within three weeks.