Dismissed Stevens Juror Called to Court

The drama over Sen. Ted Stevens’s jury continues.

The federal judge overseeing the Alaska Republican’s corruption trial has ordered a juror, who had been excused from the case, to appear before the court on Monday to “show cause as to why you failed to respond to the Court’s numerous and continued attempts to communicate with you.”

The woman, a licensed paralegal, left Washington last week during a key point in the deliberations because of the death of her father. Initially, she said she would let the court know whether she could return and continue deliberations.

But Judge Emmet G. Sullivan has not been able to reach her since she left Oct. 24. The jury deliberations continued with an alternate juror, and within hours on Oct. 27, Stevens was convicted on seven felony counts for making false statements.

The jury has become a political football in Stevens’s reelection bid, where his supporters say that the jury was comprised of liberals. During the trial, another juror allegedly made “violent outbursts” and was “rude,” and was asked to be dismissed by the jury’s foreman.

–Manu Raju