They are the jury -- six white members, six black -- chosen to decide the fate of former state senator John Ford, who faces federal bribery charges.

Race has been the elephant in the courtroom. A distinct racial divide factored into the jury's selection, which was largely conducted at the judge's bench outside public hearing.

Court records obtained by The Commercial Appeal show the prosecution and defense were at opposite racial poles when they exercised peremptory challenges -- the right to dismiss a potential juror without stating a reason.

All six jurors dismissed by the defense were white, according to "strike sheets'' obtained by the newspaper after it filed a motion to intervene in the case.

That fits a longstanding pattern in the judicial system. Legal scholars who study jury selection say prosecutors tend to dismiss potential jurors who are black while defense lawyers dismiss those who are white. The pattern holds regardless of the defendant's race, experts say.

"It's really hard to say in any given case,'' said Mary Rose, an assistant professor at the University of Texas School of Law who studies jury selection. Attitudes of the justice system do vary among racial groups. Still, "People think it matters a lot more than the evidence shows,'' she said.

Ford, 64, is accused of taking $55,000 in cash bribes in the FBI's Tennessee Waltz sting, an undercover operation involving agents posing as businessmen who paid cash to lawmakers in exchange for helping a sham company get an exclusive state contract.

Ford contends he was a legitimate business consultant entrapped by an overzealous sting that paid him what he thought were legitimate fees for advice.

"Entrapment defenses are rare. ... It's considered sometimes a desperation defense,'' said Neil P. Cohen, a retired University of Tennessee law professor specializing in criminal law.

Cohen and Northwestern law professor Diamond said they knew of no research done to indicate whether a juror's race might make him or her more or less sympathetic to an entrapment defense.

Understanding their strategy isn't easy. Pprosecution and defense lawyers declined comment for this article. And reporters couldn't hear questioning of individual jurors, which was done in hushed tones at U.S. Dist. Judge J. Daniel Breen's bench.

"Picking a jury is one of the most important stages of any trial, and even more so in a criminal case,'' said the newspaper's attorney, Brian S. Faughnan. "The courts belong to all of us, and the public has the right to know not just what happens inside them, but how it happens as well."

Sensitive questioning was done outside the earshot of other jurors so as not to taint the jury pool. Breen also is trying to protect jurors' identities -- they are referred to only by number in court. As a compromise, Breen said he also will release transcripts of jury questioning, perhaps with some redactions.

And yet for all the emphasis placed on color in race-conscious Memphis, it remains a dormant issue in the Ford trial, which enters its third week Monday. Nowhere to be seen is the passion and fury that marked the 1990 and 1993 trials of Ford's brother, then-Congressman Harold Ford Sr., or the protests that were a backdrop to last year's trial of former state senator Roscoe Dixon.

As originally picked, the jury consisted of seven white and five black members; a white juror was excused because of a death in his family and replaced by a black juror. The remaining three alternates are black.

And what of gender? Nine of the 12 are women -- will it matter? On undercover tapes Ford refers to women as "bitches'' and "fine mother (expletive),'' and also complains bitterly about his court-ordered child support.

Rose said gender typically factors into verdicts when the case revolves around sex, such as in a rape or domestic violence case. On the other hand, men can get every bit as riled about such offensive comments as women, she said.

Monday: Laying the ground for entrapment, the defense plays more than 20 undercover audiotapes that portray Ford as lukewarm and indifferent as agents courted him.

Thursday: The defense takes Willis apart, exposing inconsistencies in testimony of the felon witness who admitted he smoked dope during the Tennessee Waltz probe.

Friday: The prosecution rebounds with testimony from two high-ranking state officials who say Ford pressured them while pushing legislation he allegedly was paid cash to file.

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