McMartin Verdicts Will Be Held Back : Courts: Jurors’ appeals persuade the judge in the molestation case to wait until after winter break to unseal their decisions.

Responding to jurors’ concerns, the judge in the McMartin Pre-School molestation trial said Monday he will not unseal and announce any verdicts before the panel’s scheduled vacation Dec. 16.

“They are just under incredible pressure,” said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Pounders.

Pounders previously had announced his intent to make verdicts public in batches, rather than wait for decisions on all 65 counts of molestation and conspiracy against Ray Buckey, 31, and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, 63.

So far, the jury has turned in only one verdict--thought by Pounders to relate to the child whose allegations triggered the case--and the judge had said he would announce it and any others received on or before Dec. 15.

But several jurors, upon learning of the plan from friends, complained privately to Pounders on Friday that it was affecting their deliberations and that they feared feedback from family, friends and neighbors during their two-week break. The jury is not sequestered.

Pounders’ unusual plan to take verdicts piecemeal was intended to avoid a complete mistrial should any of the remaining jurors become unable to continue. Due to illness and other problems, none of the six alternates remain.

The defense had also opposed the taking of partial verdicts.

The trial, which had been expected to last no longer than one year, is now in its third year. The toll it has taken on the jury and other participants “shows in their faces,” Pounders commented.

He said the jury appears to be deliberating counts relating to the fourth of 11 alleged child victims, but that it is withholding its decisions. He had ordered that they sign, date, seal and turn over to the court clerk each verdict as it is reached.

With only one verdict in after four weeks of deliberations, it is unlikely that the jury will complete its work by the end of next week. In that event, all the verdicts would be announced at the same time.