Thursday, 4:30 PM
Juror in Worthington case dismissed, deliberations start over
(AP Photo Steve Heaslip, Pool)
Judge Gary Nickerson consults legal books before dismissing one of the jurors today in Christopher McCowen's murder trial.
By Megan Tench, Globe Staff, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent
A juror has been removed in the Christa Worthington murder trial today, forcing the panel to start over from scratch and re-examine all the evidence after five full days of deliberations.
Barnstable Superior Court Judge Gary Nickerson ordered an alternate juror who had not been participating in deliberations to join the panel. Nickerson said that the panel must had to set aside all their previous discussions and "start anew" and cannot merely bring the alternate, a middle-aged women, up to speed.
Those new deliberations have stopped for the day and are scheduled to resume again on Wednesday.
The dismissed juror was a woman in her 20s who the judge ordered the media not to identify. She was dismissed because of a cell phone conversation she had Monday with Kyle S. Hicks, a man identified as her boyfriend who was arrested over the weekend in connection with a shooting in Falmouth that is unrelated to the high profile murder trial.
During the call, however, the juror referred to police investigating the shooting as "dumb" and made it clear that she was upset her name had been broadcast by some media outlets. Jurors' names are usually kept confidential until after a verdict has been reached.
"I'm so mad somebody already leaked it out about me," the juror said in the six-minute conversation, which was recorded because Hicks had called her from jail. Nickerson played a recording of the call this morning in open court.
Defense attorney Robert George moved for a mistrial, a motion that the judge quickly rejected.
The dismissal of the woman comes after the jury had already deliberated for five full days without reaching a verdict. Jurors sent Nickerson a note Monday saying they were hopelessly deadlocked. The judge told them to continue deliberating and sequestered them for the night in a hotel.
Worthington, 46, was found in her home in January 2002 lying half-naked on the kitchen floor, dead from a stab wound to the chest. Her trash collector, Christopher M. McCowen, 34, faces aggravated rape, burglary and murder charges and could face life in prison if convicted of the most serious counts.
On Friday, jurors asked Nickerson to redefine "reasonable doubt" before they broke for the weekend. The case has made headlines across the globe.
(AP Photo/ Steve Heaslip, Pool)
An unidentified court officer (left) draws a name from a box held by Court Clerk Scott Nickerson (right) to replace a juror today in Christopher McCowen's murder trial.
