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Cape Cod juror complained to jailed boyfriend

By John Springer
Court TV

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BARNSTABLE, Massachusetts (Court TV) -- A day after a jury announced it was deadlocked in the case of murdered fashion writer Christa Worthington, the judge kicked a juror off the panel for discussing the deliberations with her jailed boyfriend.

The boyfriend is a suspect in an attempted murder over the weekend.

Juror No. 4 appeared nervous but composed when Superior Court Gary Nickerson informed her that she was being discharged because of tape recordings that revealed she had violated his instructions not to discuss the case or monitor news coverage.

The woman's boyfriend, 23-year-old Kyle Hicks, is being held in the same jail as defendant Christopher McCowen.

Hicks was charged with attempted murder following a shooting Saturday at a home in Falmouth that left one man injured.

The juror, whose name is being withheld by Court TV, spoke to Hicks by phone twice on Monday afternoon, after Nickerson ordered the jury sequestered for the remainder of the trial.

'I can't go home'

Assistant District Attorney Robert Welsh III played two six-minute recordings of those conversations, which were recorded in the normal course of business by officials at the Barnstable House of Correction.

"What's the matter?" Hicks asked at the start of the first call.

"They just sequestered us, so I can't go home," the juror said, her voice shaking. "This sucks. There's so much going on."

After briefly discussing Hicks' case, the conversation turned to the ongoing deliberations in McCowen's trial. So far, the panel of seven women and five men have deliberated more than 28 hours over six days.

"How much longer do you think it's going to be?" Hicks asked at one point. "Do they think they are going to make you deliberate until you can make a [expletive] decision?"

"I guess so. I don't know," Juror No. 4 said.

Although the juror did not discuss the content or status of the deliberations, the conversation clearly established that she violated the court's order, Welsh noted. She also made comments about being aware that the media was linking the Falmouth shooting with a juror on the McCowen case, the prosecutor said.

Watched news coverage?

"There is evidence she is either watching news coverage of this trial, in violation of the court's order, or is receiving information from others who have watched it," Welsh said.

"There is a compelling reason for the removal of this juror," he added.

Defense attorney Robert George urged Nickerson to keep the juror. The recordings did not indicate that the juror was talking about the trial or deliberations in detail, he said.

"To take her off now, your honor ... It would destroy the defendant's right to a fair trial in this case, and I object," George said. "The defendant doesn't want Juror 4 taken from the jury."

Nickerson noted George's objection for the record and then discharged the juror anyway. The judge ordered the dismissed juror not to discuss any aspect of the case, including her discharge, until he discharges the rest of the jury.

A female alternate was selected to replace the dismissed juror. One alternate remains.

The jury returned to deliberations about 10:30 a.m. ET with an instruction to start over.

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