The James Holmes trial got some new jurors Tuesday after the judge dismissed three of them when he learned that one took a call from her husband and discussed the case and in turn talked about it with two others.
According to the Denver Post, one juror known as No. 673 informed Arapahoe County Judge Carlos Samour Jr. that she heard another juror talking about media reports in the Holmes case. Holmes is on trial for allegedly killing 12 people and injuring 70 more during a theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, on July 20, 2012.
He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the 166 charges against him, which include first-degree murder and attempted murder,
noted the Los Angeles Times.
Samour dismissed No. 872 after learning she was the juror who talked to her husband about the case over the phone, reported the Post. The judge also dismissed jurors No. 412 and No. 495 after learning they possibly heard what was said by No. 872, wrote the Post.
"The court's primary concern is not fairness to the jurors. It's fairness to the trial process," David Beller, the president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, told the Post. "Any decision that the jurors make has to come from evidence that they received in the courtroom."
"When they're receiving information from outside the courtroom, the judge really doesn't have much of a choice but to dismiss them," said Beller.
NBC News reported that juror No. 872 had spoken about how district attorney George Brauchler accidentally posted a message on Twitter while in the courtroom and was aware that Holmes defense team had previously asked for a mistrial, two things the juror should not have known.
The trio was replaced by three alternative jurors who had been following the trial, leaving nine in that pool, according to the Post. Samour rejected a request from Holmes' defense team that No. 673 be replaced as well, charging that she had also been tainted.
"You did the right thing, and I very much appreciate you doing this," Samour told the juror.
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