Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens met with prosecutors and defense attorneys about the juror misconduct allegation Tuesday morning. It's unclear how an SBI probe might, if at all, affect the outcome of the trial, and attorneys declined to comment Tuesday on the issue.
Prior to giving jurors the case last week, Stephens ordered them to turn off their cellphones and not to communicate with anyone during deliberations.
Throughout the lengthy trial, he reminded them daily not to discuss the case with anyone and to avoid social networking sites and news coverage of the case so as to avoid any perception of bias and to help maintain the integrity of the justice system.
Early on in the trial, during jury selection, Stephens had to dismiss two jurors for talking about the case.