Ted Stevens’ Jury Plays Musical ChairsBetween the “stressful” first day, “violent” juror and sudden adjournment, it was an exciting first week in Sen. Ted Stevens’ trial and the second promises to be no different — especially since deliberations are starting from square one.
On Friday, juror No. 4 was excused to return home after the death of her father. Judge Emmet Sullivan announced that he would check in with the juror over the weekend to determine whether or not she would be able to return.
But in the days following the adjournment juror No. 4 has been unreachable, and on Sunday, Sullivan decided to go ahead with deliberations replacing her with an alternate.
“We have four alternates for this reason,” Judge Sullivan at the hearing Sunday according to the Anchorage Daily News.
The addition of an alternate juror means that deliberations — which have been riddled with distractions — will start anew.
This morning, after a brief vetting of the new juror, deliberations began again. Here at TPM we’re not holding our breath that this is the last we hear from this drama-laden jury before a verdict.