Stevens juror accused of violent outbursts

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- The judge in the corruption trial of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, Thursday urged jurors to deliberate with "civility" following complaints about one juror.

The jury began deliberating Wednesday in Stevens' trial on charges he failed to report gifts and benefits he received as a senator and that he lied on official Senate forms.

The jurors asked U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan to dismiss one woman on the panel, saying she is "rude, disrespectful and unreasonable" and had engaged in "violent outbursts with other jurors and that's not helping anyone," The Hill reported.

"The jurors are getting off course," the jurors said in a note to the judge. "She is not following the rules that were stipulated ... in the instructions."

The Hill said the juror in question is a middle-aged bookkeeper.

Sullivan Thursday called the jurors back to the courtroom and encouraged them to show "civility and mutual respect," Roll Call reported.