Juror removed from Peterson trial
No evidence so far to prove accused husband's guilt, man says
REDWOOD CITY, California (CNN) -- The judge in the Scott Peterson double murder trial removed one of the jurors Wednesday, but refused a defense motion for a mistrial.
The juror, Justin Falconer, was identified as making a brief comment to Brent Rocha, the brother of Laci Peterson, last week at the courthouse.
Falconer will be replaced by an alternate, who is both a lawyer and doctor.
After his removal, Falconer, 28, told reporters that "a lot of things got blown out of proportion," and he said being a juror was "a lot of pressure."
Outside the court, Falconer said he tried to keep an open mind about Peterson's guilt or innocence. Based on what he had heard so far, he said, "There's no way I would even believe he was guilty."
However, he added, "We haven't heard the defense, we haven't heard the whole prosecution."
Judge Alfred A. Delucchi did not specify why he dismissed Falconer, but Falconer told reporters Delucchi suggested he was removed because he had become a "distraction."
Last Thursday, Falconer, an airport screener, was recorded by a television camera talking to Rocha while they were passing through courthouse security.
According to Falconer, he said, "I was in the picture with the news. I told them, 'I'm ruining the shot for the news tonight. You're not going to be on the news tonight."
Media who heard the audio said it sounded like, "You're going to lose tonight."
"It got blown all out of proportion," Falconer said. (Full story)
Defense blames media intrusion
Peterson's lawyer, Mark Geragos, demanded a mistrial, saying media coverage has tainted the case.
"The media insinuated themselves in this case in a way that is unprecedented," Geragos said. "I think it is an outrage."
Delucchi denied Geragos' request.
Prosecutors allege that Scott Peterson, 31, murdered his pregnant wife, Laci, in their Modesto home on or around December 24, 2002, then used the story of a fishing trip as a cover-up to hide that he had dumped her body into San Francisco Bay.
The defense argues that investigators focused on Peterson too quickly to the detriment of other leads. They have asserted that someone else abducted Laci Peterson while she walked the couple's dog.
Laci Peterson's body and that of the fetus washed up separately on the shores of the bay, just miles from where her husband told police he had been fishing that day.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
