A juror was dismissed and replaced by an alternate today in the Kali Watkins rape trial, forcing deliberations to start over.
The judge dismissed the juror after she confirmed that she ran into an attorney she knew in the hall outside court and talked with her about being on the Watkins jury. The juror has been replaced by an alternate and deliberations resumed.
Watkins stands accused of raping a then-14-year-old girl in the women's locker room at Schroeder. The defense argued he couldn't have done it, because he was taking his dog to the vet at the time the victim said she was assaulted. The prosecution said there was enough leeway in the case's timeline for the rape to have taken place as the victim described.