Prospective Jurors for ‘Twilight Zone’ Trial Are Examined

An immaculately attired Hollywood film director, seated by the defense table in a spot more often reserved for suspected sex offenders and serial killers, peered forward at a group of office managers and technicians who may eventually help decide his fate.

“Does anybody feel that there are forces that are unexplainable--that just happen in the universe?” a defense attorney asked these prospective jurors one recent afternoon. “Is there anybody here who believes that things happen just randomly and there may not be an explanation?”

The metaphysical dialogue may have sounded like a script from the “Twilight Zone.” But in reality it took place in the downtown Criminal Courts Building, where, for the past three weeks, attorneys have been hard at work seeking 12 dispassionate jurors for a showcase trial involving the city’s most prominent industry, the motion picture business.

The Twilight Five--Director John Landis, associate producer George Folsey Jr., unit production manager Dan Allingham, helicopter pilot Dorcey A. Wingo and special-effects coordinator Paul Stewart--are each accused of involuntary manslaughter in the gruesome deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two child actors on the set of “Twilight Zone: The Movie.”

Morrow, along with Renee Chen, 6, and Myca Dinh Lee, 7, were killed July 23, 1982, when a helicopter spun out of control and crashed down upon them during the shooting of a Vietnam War battle sequence.

Beginning with a panel of 250--chosen randomly from the county’s general pool of prospective jurors in late July--Superior Court Judge Roger Boren immediately dismissed 92 people who declared financial hardships due to the estimated four-month trial length.

The remainder were ordered to complete confidential 13-page surveys containing more than 90 questions concerning their favorite movies and TV shows, their hobbies, political and religious preferences. The jurors were also asked if they have suffered injuries in aviation accidents.

Since July 30, 10 panelists a day--Monday through Thursday--have been called to center stage to answer frequently detailed and occasionally obscure queries posed by Boren, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea D’Agostino and counsels for the five defendants.

The actual 12-member jury, along with four alternates, is scheduled to be selected Aug. 28 from among those not already dismissed due to bias or their employment in the movie industry or with law enforcement agencies. Each side will be allowed to summarily reject up to 55 potential panelists that day through peremptory challenges.

Though grueling, the jury selection procedure has been far more intriguing than in most criminal instances due to the glitzy nature of the “Twilight Zone” trial. As they are questioned, potential jurors have been given an opportunity to divulge their thoughts on subjects ranging from their personal definitions of reasonable doubt to their secret desires to become movie stars. The process has also afforded the attorneys an early opportunity to outline and help sell the key points of their cases.

Children Illegally Hired

The defense counsels, for their part, have repeatedly asked panelists if they believe that accidents are preventable, if they can judge each defendant separately for his own acts and whether they might be unduly influenced by the fact that the two child actors were illegally hired to work at night without state permits. Although the defense concedes the latter point, the defendants are not charged with that offense--rather, they are charged with manslaughter stemming from alleged criminal negligence (Landis, Wingo and Stewart, three counts each) and child endangerment (Landis, Folsey and Allingham, two counts each).

Attorney Arnold Klein, representing Stewart, explained that he has asked several panelists their feelings about random, unexplainable events to help learn if they might eventually conclude that the fatal helicopter crash was an accident for which no clear-cut explanation will ever be determined.

Covering all bases, though, Klein has also asked prospective jurors whether they would be swayed by the testimony of a witness he might call late in the trial--a la Perry Mason--to dramatically declare on the stand that it is he who is to blame for the fiery tragedy.

Celebrity Friends

D’Agostino, meanwhile, is asking panelists whether they believe that workers should accept responsibility for problems they did not cause in order to protect fellow employees who were actually at fault. She is also questioning whether the prospective jurors believe that most accidents are avoidable and whether they might be unduly influenced by celebrity friends of Landis who might show up in court to demonstrate their support for the lanky, trim-bearded director, whose box-office hits include “Animal House” and “Trading Places.”

D’Agostino even asked the first five panelists whether they had ever dreamed of being a specific movie star as they were growing up. Responses included one Loretta Young, one Katharine Hepburn and one Shirley Temple.

Thus far, jurors dropped for bias have included people with strong opinions favoring both sides. A corporate production manager accused prosecutors of “Monday morning quarterbacking” in filing the criminal charges. On the other hand, a grocery stock clerk, when asked if he thought it was unsafe for the children to work at night, replied, “Well, I understand they are dead, aren’t they?” The clerk, before being dismissed, added that if the defendants “weren’t guilty, they wouldn’t be here.”

Types of Candidates

The randomly selected jurors have also included an IRS auditor, a chocolate chip cookie packer, a Disneyland ticket taker and several entertainment industry-related types.

One was film director Joel Oliansky, who said he was now working on a script about the Hillside Strangler case--on which Boren, then a deputy attorney general, was the co-prosecutor. Oliansky was quickly dismissed.

Also eliminated was Julie Ahlberg, a film production coordinator who told the court that her husband Mac, and her father, Bruce Bilson, are both movie directors. In addition, she said, she attended nursery school with Vic Morrow’s daughter.

Then there was a part-time actor who said he has performed bit roles in films, including the low-budget “A Polish Vampire in Burbank.”

“I played the father of the vampire,” he explained, “trying to get my kid to go out and bite somebody--but he wouldn’t do it.”

“Kids just don’t listen to their parents these days,” replied Allingham’s counsel, Leonard Levine, who was questioning the panelist at the time.

Few Liked Film

While almost all interviewees have expressed familiarity with the “Twilight Zone” tragedy, most said they could still be objective.

About 25% of the jurors saw the completed “Twilight Zone” film, which does not include the actual accident sequence. But few seemed to like it.

‘It must have been boring because I fell asleep,” a woman crate packer said.

“I liked the original (TV series) better,” another woman panelist said.

At least one juror seemed somewhat befuddled by the entire issue.

“When you say ‘Twilight Zone,’ ” said the juror, a nursing clinic office manager, “you know what I think of? Alfred Hitchcock.”

Thus far, both sides have commented favorably on the preliminary process.

“I think it’s going relatively smoothly,” D’Agostino said. “Most people try and give you as honest answers as they can.”

Said Landis: “I’m impressed with the fact they take it so seriously--because I certainly take it seriously.”

If all goes smoothly, the long-delayed trial will begin Sept. 2, when D’Agostino is scheduled to make her opening statement and call her first witness to the stand.