CNN logo navigation Infoseek/BigYellow/Pathfinder/Warner Bros. Main banner Samsung. Meeting the challenge. rule MCVEIGH CASE COULD SET PRECEDENT FOR JURY ANONYMITY jurors.sketch April 13, 1997 Web posted at: 4:01 p.m. EDT (2001 GMT) From Correspondent Susan Candiotti DENVER (CNN) -- Unless they decide to tell the world, the jurors who decide the fate of accused bomber Timothy McVeigh may remain forever anonymous. Trial Judge Richard Matsch assigned each jury candidate a number, and permanently sealed their records. But he has gone even further to protect their identities, ordering a partition to hide the jury box from the view of most courtroom spectators. For example, reporters must sit on one side of the court, where it's impossible to see behind the wall. matsch Georgetown University law professor Paul Rothstein says Matsch "has gone a little overboard." Unless there is evidence of danger or threat to the jurors, he says, "the presumption should be for an open trial in every respect, including being able to view the jurors." But Andrew Wolfberg, who served on the jury for the trial of Eric and Lyle Menendez, says protecting jurors' identities in the Oklahoma City bombing trial is important. "I think with this trial, there involved the death of many people ... which can in some way cause the jury to feel they have something to fear from this defendant," he said. In high-profile cases such as the O.J. Simpson trial, jurors' names are protected until the trial is over. And where TV coverage is allowed, faces are not shown on camera. mcveigh.jury Despite the secrecy, once the trial was over, some Simpson trial jurors hired agents, wrote books and hit the talk show circuit. Despite Matsch's caution and concern, some observers say he might be setting a precedent. "It's turning our system of justice upside down," says Jane Kirtley of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. "Because what it means is that the public really has no idea of who is sitting in judgment of people accused of heinous crimes." Decisions like Matsch's, opponents like Kirtley say, deny the public's right to "know" who sits on a high-profile jury. OKC Trial Special Section T R A N S C R I P T S / O V E R V I E W / T H E P L A Y E R S T H E B O M B I N G / C N N S T O R I E S / L I N K S rule What You Think Tell us what you think! You said it... [INLINE] Samsung. Meeting the challenge. rule To the top © 1997 Cable News Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you.