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Ted Stevens' Jury Plays Musical Chairs
Between 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.
Josh
Zachary
Boy these Palin clothes sure do have a long shelf-life!
October 27, 2008 12:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wrong thread. Still, Alaska muck!
October 27, 2008 12:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
And now the Jury points out that the Indictment has an error (probably not the last one), to which the Judge says "Presumably somebody reads these indictments before they return them?"
Do Juries know how much power they have?
I'd like to see this one order that the prosecution be answerable for deliberately bungling the case and allowing the defendant to walk.
Prosecutorial misconduct appears when they really want to cream someone and have little to work with. I've never seen a case where it's gone the other way, and with such open stupidity.
Even the dumbest would have to try hard to match the antics of this trial.
October 27, 2008 1:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
What happens now?
Stevens can legally continue his campaign, there's no law against it. He is not allowed to vote as a convicted felon but he is allowed to continue sitting in the Senate until he is voted out.
This won't do Palin any good since she supported Stevens while at the same time claiming to be bucking the political establishment in Alaska. Who could be more established in Alaska than Uncle Ted?
Bush may pardon Stevens before leaving office in January.
October 27, 2008 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink