How much publicity has been given to a defendant in a civil case?

We also conclude from our independent evaluation of the record that pretrial publicity had no prejudicial effect on the jurors who actually heard defendant's case. Jury members need not be totally ignorant of the facts, so long as they "can lay aside their impressions and opinions and render a verdict based on the evidence presented in court." (People v. Fauber (1992) 2 Cal.4th 792, 819, 9 Cal.Rptr.2d 24, 831 P.2d 249.) Here, the jurors were [16 Cal.4th 656] either unaware of the pretrial publicity or had only vague recollections of reading or hearing something about the incident when it took place, and all agreed to base their decision solely on the evidence presented at trial.