The Daily Background

A short time ago from the federal courthouse:

A federal judge avoided a potential mistrial in the CIA leak case Monday by dismissing a juror and sending the other 11 back to continue deliberating the fate of former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said the juror had seen or read something over the weekend about Libby’s trial.

“What she had exposure to obviously disqualifies her,” the judge said.

He did not say what the juror had seen but characterized it as a misunderstanding. He has ordered jurors to avoid media coverage of the case.

This is apparently also the only juror who didn’t wear the red valentine’s day shirt that the rest of the jury did (feel free to read as much/little into this as you want). One of the alternates has been called to replace her. (see below) Boy, I can’t imagine what it’d be like to try and not read anything about the trial, especially if it’s the biggest trial going on in the country and you’re in the city that it’s taking place in. You’d have to cut yourself off from watching television, going to any websites that might have information about it, etc.

It’s too bad that this happened though still, especially because the judge initially thought that several jurors had been tainted, and it turned out to just be this one. Might provide supplemental fodder for an appeal.

Update: More from the Washington Post… The juror, in her 70s, did not purposefully ignore the judge’s instructions to avoid media coverage, and an alternate juror will NOT be called to replace her; they’ll just be one person short (11 in total now). Also, check the following out:

Fitzgerald appeared disturbed by the development, while Libby and several defense attorneys wore broad smiles at the news of the woman’s removal.

If another juror is dismissed, they’ll call an alternate.

Filed under: Plame Leak, Z-TDB Blog