Juror: Anucha Browne Sanders was credible

BY TAMER EL-GHOBASHY and TRACY CONNOR
Wednesday, October 3rd 2007, 4:00 AM

There were four women and three men with little in common, working in what one of them described as a "highly charged situation."

Yet the jurors gathered in a small room next to courtroom 23A were quickly able to agree on one point: Anucha Browne Sanders was telling the truth and she could prove it.

"She was credible because she documented a lot and people saw her upset and distraught," said Sally Foster, one of the jurors who awarded Browne Sanders $11.6 million in damages.

Foster said deliberations in the sexual harassment case were emotionally tense and physically draining - but unfailingly polite.

Which was more than jurors could say for the goings-on in the executive suites at Madison Square Garden, which Foster saw as a den of iniquity.

"I wouldn't want one of my children there because of all the language you'd have to listen to," she said. "We just don't use those words in our house."

Words like "bitch" and "ho" - the terms that Knicks coach Isiah Thomas was accused of using in conversations with Browne Sanders.

Foster had no trouble believing the accusation, because Browne Sanders had left a trail - writing in a personal diary and confiding in friends and relatives.

"A compelling point is that she wrote and documented and started complaining in 2004 and it wasn't until almost 2006 before serious measures were taken," the juror said.

"She just kept documenting and writing and complaining."

Foster was reluctant to reveal much about the deliberations, but shared thoughts about the key players in the blockbuster trial.

Of Thomas, she said, "There wasn't much to say in his defense." She thought MSG Chairman James Dolan "should have consulted a lawyer" instead of canning Browne Sanders.

Kathleen Decker, the intern who testified to a sex romp with Stephon Marbury, struck Foster as "very sad."

"She's awfully young and made some unintelligent choices," she said.

Asked about her impression of the Garden after the trial, Juror No. 3 said, "They need sensitivity training."

Foster declined to discuss why the jurors originally split 6-1 on the question of punitive damages for Thomas, but emphasized the different "personality traits" among the group.

"I think we were very professional, prompt and we were all polite to each other," she said. "Everyone was hardworking."

And very careful about what they said.

Heeding an admonition from the judge, most jurors refused to comment yesterday. Those who did were stingy with words.

"The decision stood for itself," said Gretchen Haury. "I think you can tell by how much we deliberated that we had to give it serious thought."