Outside Knowledge Sees Libby Juror Sent Home

A juror in the CIA leak trial of Lewis "Scooter" Libby was dismissed today after she admitted to the judge that she had been exposed to external information about the case.

Judge Reggie Walton said the jury would continue their fourth day of deliberations with 11 members.

"I will emphasise again the importance of not having contact with any outside information," judge Walton said.

Earlier, the prospect of a mistrial being declared in the case was raised after the judge privately began questioning each of the jurors over the possibility that they had seen media coverage of it.

If a significant number had seen the coverage, a mistrial could have been declared.

Instead the judge opted to dismiss just one female member of the jury. Judge Walton said "what she had exposure to obviously disqualifies her."

The judge declined to say what information the juror had seen but characterised it as a misunderstanding.

He also chose not to call an alternate juror, which would have meant that the jury would have had to begin its deliberations again. Judge Walton said he did not want to "throw away two and a half days".

The jury, which now consists of seven women and four men, has been considering the case since last Wednesday.

Mr Libby, the former chief of staff to vice-president Dick Cheney, is accused of perjury in relation to an alleged cover-up in relation to the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The case goes back to a claim by president Bush, only months before the invasion, that Iraq was seeking uranium yellowcake from Niger as part of its aim of achieving a nuclear weapons capability.

A former US ambassador, Joe Wilson, was sent to Niger to investigate, concluded the story was untrue and wrote a newspaper piece saying so.

The Bush administration, angered by the revelation and amid accusations it was out for revenge against the former ambassador, leaked to the press that Mr Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, worked for the CIA, thereby bringing her career to an end.

During a federal investigation into the leak, Mr Libby said he had been told by reporters about her identity. Reporters disputed this version.

If found guilty, Mr Libby could face 30 years in jail and $1.25m (£640,000) in fines, though such harsh penalties are unlikely to be imposed.