Computer glitch alphabetized potential jurors

BOSTON -- If you're on the A-list at Suffolk Superior Court this month, then most likely you're also in the jury pool.

A computer glitch at the state Office of Jury Commissioner alphabetized names of potential jurors, rather than shuffling them, before summonses were sent out. That created a jury pool of people whose last names begin with the letter A.

So far, prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges agree that the error has not affected defendants' constitutional right to a fair trial in front of a jury of their peers, jury Commissioner Pamela J. Wood said.

There are five trials under way in Suffolk Superior Court and no lawyers have raised objections, said David Procopio, a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Conley.

"We do not believe that what was basically a procedural defect compromised the integrity of the jury pool," Procopio said. "Much more important is randomness based on race, gender, and other more substantive issues, and this pool does have that."