TORONTO -- The selection process used in Dr. Henry Morgentaler's abortion trial called for a jury with several working women in their 30s who didn't attend church regularly, an expert who worked with the defence says.

Marjorie Fargo, a Washington jury research specialist hired by Dr. Morgentaler's lawyer to help select a favorable jury, said she and her partner looked for specific traits in jurors.

"Religion was very important," she said in an interview in Washington. "It was probably the key factor.

"It wasn't so much what religion but how active you were in your particular church."

Miss Fargo, a sociologist who helps defence lawyers in the U.S. pick juries by applying psychology and social science research techniques to jury interviews, says there is a direct correlation between church attendance and the likelihood someone holds anti-abortion sentiments.

"Generally speaking, here in this country, the more frequently someone attends church services the more likely they are to be anti-abortionists," she said. "It's a terribly important factor."

Miss Fargo and her assistant, Kathryn Marks, said they attempted to exclude regular churchgoers, housewives, young people and older professionals from the Morgentaler jury.

At the same time, the U.S. jury specialists, who for the first time in Canadian history sat next to Dr. Morgentaler's lawyer throughout the jury selection, watched potential jurors' body language and deportment in an attempt to weed out jurors unfavorable to Dr. Morgentaler.

"We were more interested if people responded to the questions they were asked than what they actually said," Miss Fargo explained. "We were looking for people who were flexible, who were honest and self-assured."

They advised defence lawyer Morris Manning to reject 31 potential jurors in a lengthy process that selected a jury of six men and six women.

Miss Fargo said she and Miss Marks were less likely to recommend a juror who displayed hostility to either Mr. Manning or Dr. Morgentaler -- by staring intently at the men, shifting his body aggressively or responding to questions in a flippant, casual or unconcerned way.

But both Miss Fargo and Miss Marks say they were unable in the Morgentaler case to use to the fullest their special talents as jury selection experts because Associate Chief Justice William Parker refused to allow Mr. manning to submit to potential jurors a list of 25 questions the two had prepared.

Instead, the judge allowed Mr. manning to ask only three yes-or-no questions:

1. Do you have any religious, moral or other beliefs relating to abortion such that you would convict or acquit regardless of the law or evidence?
   
2. Have you, because of religious or moral beliefs, or because of what you have read or seen in the media, formed any opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the accused?
   
3. Despite any beliefs or opinions, would you be willing to set aside these beliefs or opinions and reach a verdict of guilt or not guilt solely on the evidence and the law you receive in this courtroom?
   

Miss Fargo also said she and Miss Marks were able to prepare for the trial only by reading newspaper clippings on the case and by consulting Gallop polls from the two countries on public attitudes to abortion.