Gloria Estefan Called For Jury Duty In Police Beating Trial

The defense may be hoping Gloria Estefan keeps her album "Eyes of Innocence" in mind during her jury service in the beating retrial of four Miami police officers

The Havana-born music millionaire was among prospective jurors who filled out questionnaires Thursday morning in Miami. It's for the federal trial of officers charged with violating the civil rights of a handcuffed suspect.

Estefan and husband Emilio have lived for years in a $10 million mansion on exclusive Star Island between downtown Miami and South Beach.

The officers' first jury couldn't agree on verdicts in the first trial in October 2001. In the meantime, three of the same officers were tried and two were convicted of helping cover up planted guns after questionable police shootings.

Gloria Estefan dropped from jury in Miami police retrial

MIAMI - Doing her civic duty, singer Gloria Estefan spent a day on jury duty until she was bounced by prosecutors Thursday in the retrial of four Miami police officers accused of beating a handcuffed career criminal.

The Havana-born music millionaire joined more than 60 other prospective jurors who filled out biographical questionnaires for the federal trial of officers charged with violating the ex-felon's civil rights.

The indictment is one of three covering Miami officers implicated in civilian deaths and injuries in the 1990s when police were under pressure to round up tourist robbers and eradicate rampant street crime.

"Can I do the job? Yes," Estefan said in court. "Do I feel that I would be comfortable morally and emotionally in it? I don't think so."

Prosecutor Jacqueline Becerra asked the judge to drop her, saying, "She comes into the jury room with a presence and an authority that others do not."

U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga refused, and prosecutors were forced to use one of their peremptory challenges to remove her from a panel of 12 jurors and two alternates. Opening statements are set Friday in a trial expected to run at least a week.

"All we can hope is that the jurors are truthful and there's no prejudice or bias under the surface that has not been uncovered," said defense attorney Richard Sharpstein.

Community outrage over perceptions of trigger-happy rogue officers brought in a new police chief, new shooting policies and a civilian police review board.

The officers' first jury couldn't agree on verdicts in October 2001. In the meantime, three of the same officers were tried and two were convicted of helping cover up planted guns after questionable police shootings.

Prospective Juror No. 17, dressed in a smart business suit and sporting stylish wraparound shades, arrived at the Miami federal courthouse Thursday clutching more than her summons.

International superstar Gloria Estefan was the only person who brought a personal bodyguard to jury selection -- even though the bodyguard didn't have a summons.

Estefan, 46, nearly landed on the jury of a high-profile police corruption case: the retrial of four Miami officers charged with violating the civil rights of a career criminal who was beaten during an arrest seven years ago.

Prosecutors tried but failed to persuade the judge to strike the singer from the jury because her presence would create a ''circus'' atmosphere. At the end of the day, prosecutors used a juror challenge to excuse Estefan and send her home to Star Island.

''Hallelujah!'' the Cuba native exclaimed under her breath as she boarded a courthouse elevator with her bodyguard and two deputy U.S. marshals in tow.

While she was ready and willing to serve, Estefan totally agreed with the decision.

''If I were a defendant in a trial, I wouldn't want a celebrity on the jury,'' she said during juror questioning, explaining that star-struck jurors might go along with her point of view in deliberations even if they didn't really agree with her.

She acknowledged that emotionally she has a problem with defendants who fail to take the stand in their own defense. But she quickly added that intellectually she could put those nagging questions aside if the judge ordered her not to hold it against the accused officers.

Drawing a parallel to the additional responsibilities she carries as a public person, Estefan said she believes police should be held to a higher standard as well.

Three of the four officers in the Alexander Anazco beating case were also involved in last year's major police scandal, in which officers were accused of planting guns on suspects to cover up wrongful shootings. Officers Jesse Aguero and Jorge Castello were convicted; the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on Officer Jorge Garcia, who faces a retrial in that case next month.

Aguero, Castello, Garcia and Officer Wilfredo Perez face up to five years in prison if found guilty of violating Anazco's civil rights.

Twelve citizens were eventually impaneled. Opening arguments are set for 10 a.m. today before U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga.

Estefan spent much of her day in courthouse corridors, cheerfully signing autographs and chatting with several jury-pool members while they waited to be called.

''She's everyday people,'' said Verma Johnson, a Miami nursing home administrator who also was dismissed from the panel. ``If you didn't know who she was.''

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