Jury woes stall Stevens trial

Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption trial all but ground to a halt yesterday morning as a judge tried to determine how to handle a grieving juror who had to leave town to attend her father's funeral.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan told jurors that "everyone needs a day off now and then" and sent them home for the day at 9:50 a.m. without telling them why their fellow juror had gone.

Jurors, who've cheered in the past when Sullivan let them go early, didn't appear to be happy about the extra time off this time. The jurors have been sitting in on the trial since jury selection began Sept. 22.

Sullivan will hold a hearing tomorrow to see whether the grieving juror, who's in California for her father's funeral, will be available to return.

Even if she's available, however, it's unlikely that deliberations will begin again until Tuesday or even Wednesday -- a scheduling uncertainty that postpones any verdict in the Alaska Republican's case until just days before the Nov. 4 election.

Sullivan was disinclined to add an alternate juror, because the jury would have to start from scratch on deliberations.

Sullivan also said he was reluctant to proceed with only 11 jurors, given the near-meltdown on the jury already.

Federal juries are allowed to proceed with fewer than 12 jurors, but case law is unclear about proceeding with fewer than 11.

Problems with the jury began Thursday, a day and a half after jurors got the case. The issues appeared to have little to do with the deliberations, which involve determining whether Stevens is guilty of making false statements on his Senate financial-disclosure forms.

First, 11 of the jurors sought Thursday to boot the 12th from the panel after they complained that she'd been "rude, disrespectful and unreasonable" and had engaged in "violent outbursts."

After Sullivan had resolved the problem and the jurors were all smiles, he had to call an emergency hearing at 6:30 p.m. because a second juror had learned that her father had died and she needed to go to California for his funeral.