Could be a problem with a juror, outside lawyer says

Bee Staff Reports

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12:42 p.m.: REDWOOD CITY - One of 12 people sitting in judgment of Scott Peterson might have conducted independent research in violation of state law, said a legal analyst with intricate connections to the San Mateo County Superior Court.

If true, potential reaction by Judge Alfred Delucchi could range from a simple jury instruction to removing the juror to declaring a mistrial.

Former San Mateo County prosecutor Chuck Smith, now a defense attorney with friends and associates in the court system, said this morning that Delucchi huddled with attorneys from both sides of the case to discuss a possible resolution.

“It’s very rare, but it happens,” Smith said, referring to jurors who ignore a judge’s direction.

An option for judges who suspect contamination is to interview the jurors, in a group or individually, Smith said.

At 10:30 a.m., prosecutors passed through the courtroom where reporters have camped out since jurors began deliberating Wednesday and disappeared in a corridor leading to the judge’s chamber. Defense attorneys followed the same path at 10:46 a.m., and no one emerged before a bailiff instructed reporters to leave the courtroom for a lunch break at 11:26 a.m.

The jurors on Thursday, Friday and Monday asked to review dozens of items of evidence presented during the trial, which has stretched more than five months. They include the boat Scott Peterson said he fished from the day his pregnant wife, Laci, disappeared - Christmas Eve 2002.

The 12 jurors, now in their seventh day of sequestration, are expected to continue deliberating this afternoon.

Five alternates who aren’t allowed in the jury room during discussions also are kept from having contact with the outside world and would be called on to step in if another juror leaves the panel. But deliberations would have to start over if a juror is removed, legal experts say.