About 120 prospective jurors in the trial of three teen-agers accused of raping and nearly killing a Central Park jogger were given questionnaires Wednesday asking their attitudes on race and crime. All three defendants are black teen-agers who live in Harlem. The victim is a 29-year-old white investment banker. The 54-question, 17-page form was handed to those from a pool of 382 who told state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Galligan they would be able to stay for a six- to eight-week trial. The questionnaire asks if the prospective juror or his or her children attended an integrated school; whether the person has lived in a racially mixed community, and whether he or she has friends of a different race. It also asks whether the individual would prefer help from a police officer of his or her own racial or ethnic group if in need of assistance. The questions were agreed on by all parties in the case, said Michael Joseph, attorney for defendant Antron McCray, 15. Members of the Guardian Angels community patrol group marched in front of the Manhattan courthouse, passing out leaflets that said the case ``is not a question of black and white; it's about what's wrong and what's right.'' McCray and five other youths are charged with gang raping and beating the woman as she jogged through the Central Park the evening of April 19, 1989. The victim suffered brain damage in the assault and cannot remember the attack or identify her assailants. After emerging from a coma and being treated at a Connecticut rehabilitation hospital, she returned to work at Salomon Brothers and recently was named a vice president. McCray, along with Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana, both 16, are being tried as adults on charges of attempted murder, rape, sodomy, sexual abuse, assault, robbery and riot. The other three youths are to be tried later, also as adults. If any in the first group were to be convicted, they would be sentenced as juveniles and would face a maximum of 10 years in prison. The questionnaire also asks potential jurors if they have a particular bias against people accused of sex crimes, whether they or any of their relatives jog, and whether they use Central Park often. In addition, there are the usual questions about whether the prospective juror has relatives in law enforcement or has been a crime victim. Jury selection was to continue Thursday.
