http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051123/NEWS01/51123002/1001SCOTT SMITH
Record Staff Writer
Published Wednesday, Nov 23, 2005
STOCKTON - Rapper-turned-pastor Hammer sidestepped jury duty Tuesday in the murder trial of a Stockton man accused of bludgeoning two relatives with a hammer.
Hammer, 43, of Tracy told San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Terrence Van Oss that he was under contract for a job coming up in the next couple of weeks and nobody else could do it for him. He didn?t elaborate.
Van Oss excused Hammer, who had filed into the courtroom with other potential jurors wearing dark sunglasses, jeans and carrying a folded newspaper under his arm. Attorneys are expected to make opening statements by the end of next week once the jury is selected.
?Even though I?m excused, I?d like to say this,? Hammer said after the judge excused him. ?My celebrity would hinder me from rendering a decision in this case.?
Quincy Green, 35, awaits trial on charges he murdered his father, Willie Green, 54, and his stepbrother, Nicholas Spivey, 30. The pair were found slain Oct. 6, 2004, in a second-story apartment at the corner of Center and Willow streets.
His stepmother, Mary Green, also was badly beaten but survived her injuries, including a skull fracture.
Hammer, whose given name is Stanley Kirk Burrell, rose to celebrity in the 1980s and 1990s with his signature baggy pants and megahits like ?Hammer Time,? ?U Can?t Touch This,? ?Pray? and ?Too Legit To Quit.?
Raised in Oakland, Hammer moved his family to Tracy from Fremont in 1997. The family lives in an upscale neighborhood on the outskirts of Tracy.
The irony of potentially having Hammer seated in the juror in a case where a hammer is the alleged murder weapon was not lost on San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Valli Israels.
She feared his celebrity could have become a distraction. Star-struck fans seated with him in the jury could have blindly followed him, or those who dislike his music may have chosen to vote against him, Israels said.
?It could go either way,? she said.
Assistant Public Defender Peter Fox who represents Green said he?s never confronted a situation like this but was otherwise indifferent about Hammer?s brief courtroom appearance.
?He asked for a hardship and got it,? Fox said. ?Bye-bye, M.C. Hammer.?
Hammer wasn?t the only notable juror dismissed. The two attorneys agreed to excuse the smiling Superior Court Judge Bernard Garber who shed his black robe and walked into the courtroom wearing a ?juror? badge.
Douglass Wilhoit, CEO of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce, also was excused when he told Van Oss he was traveling to Salinas next week for a speaking engagement.
Contact reporter Scott Smith at (209) 546-8296 or
ssmith@recordnet.com.
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