Potential Peterson juror let go after investigation
Woman reportedly said she believed defendant was guilty
REDWOOD CITY, California (CNN) -- A prospective juror in the Scott Peterson trial was dismissed from the case Tuesday after a weeklong investigation.
The prospective juror had been accused of saying Peterson was "guilty as hell" in the slayings of his pregnant wife and their unborn son.
Judge Alfred DeLucchi made his decision after a closed-door session with prosecutors and defense attorneys, during which he reviewed an affidavit from a man who said he heard the prospective juror make the comments.
"She indicated that she was going to do her best to get selected and that she would be 'in charge,' " the affidavit quoted the man as saying.
The man said he sat within earshot of the prospective juror during a seven-hour senior citizens' bus trip from the Bay Area to Reno, Nevada. During that time, the woman talked extensively about the case and said she planned to be a juror, he said.
The woman was also quoted as having shown a less-than-favorable impression of Scott Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, who is also defending Michael Jackson from child-molestation charges.
"Anyone who defends a wife-killer and a child-molester deserves to lose," the man recalled the woman saying.
At another point, the man quoted the woman as saying she thought Peterson was "guilty as hell," according to the April 8 affidavit.
Peterson, who has pleaded not guilty, could face the death penalty if convicted of the killings.
Geragos first brought up the prospective juror's comments last week, after he said he received a tip about her remarks.
The woman had previously been ordered to return to court May 11 to discuss the charges.
Geragos contends that Peterson cannot get a fair trial in Northern California and has called for the trial to be moved out of the region. So far, he has failed in that bid, but the trial was moved about 80 miles from the Petersons' hometown, Modesto, to Redwood City.
On Tuesday, five more potential jurors qualified, bringing the total to 37. The court hopes to have 70 potential jurors before the peremptory challenges, slated for May 13. Opening statements are scheduled to begin May 17.
Last April, the remains of Laci Peterson and the fetus washed up separately on the shore of San Francisco Bay, near where Peterson told police he had gone fishing December 24, 2002, the day his wife was reported missing.
CNN's Ted Rowlands contributed to this report.
