LOS ANGELES : Juror’s Emergency Forces Delay in King Civil Trial

A medical emergency Thursday involving a juror’s wife forced a recess until Monday of the Rodney G. King civil lawsuit trial, which the presiding judge now expects to take another month to complete.

U.S. District Judge John G. Davies said his timetable for the trial is in “shambles” because of testimony that has taken longer than anticipated.

Attorneys for King hope to rest their case in the first phase of the trial by noon on Monday, a week later than originally projected. Davies had expected the entire first phase to take a week.

Davies’ schedule was disrupted further on Thursday when Juror 34 called a clerk this morning to report that his wife had been taken to a hospital emergency room for an undisclosed illness or injury. The juror had hoped to return by this afternoon, Davies said, but he recessed the case until Monday anyway.