Deliberations continue in Kristin Smart murder trial Thursday at Monterey County Courthouse in Salinas
SALINAS, Calif. – Deliberations in the Kristin Smart murder trial continued Thursday at the Monterey County Courthouse in Salinas.
Paul and Ruben's cases were being tried simultaneously, but each defendant had their own jury.
One of the jurors in Ruben's trial was dismissed by Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O'Keefe on Thursday for talking about the case to his priest, according to a News Channel 3-12 crew at the scene.
"I need to protect the record. It pains me to have to do this, but it's something I have to do to make sure everything is protected. We do have to let you go," O'Keefe said.
An alternate juror was randomly selected on Thursday out of a pool of five alternates.
The alternate juror was sworn in on Thursday afternoon and deliberations resumed, but with the new juror in place, the deliberations for Ruben's trial must start anew.
