One more post about the Stevens trial.  Remember the juror who had to leave town because her father died?  Not quite.  The juror went to the races.  Seriously:

A juror who was dismissed from the trial of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) after she told the judge that her father had died in California admitted in court yesterday that her excuse was a lie: She actually left town to attend a horse race.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan declined to sanction the juror, Marian Hinnant, 52, of Northeast Washington, and allowed her to return to work after a short hearing.

A.J. Kramer, a federal public defender, represented Hinnant at the hearing and told the judge that she had been in such "a state of mind" that she could not continue deliberations.

Hinnant, holding a large packet of handwritten notes, gave a rambling statement that involved wiretaps, horses and drugs in Kentucky before Sullivan stopped her. The judge had ordered her to appear at yesterday's hearing because he has been unable to reach her since she was dismissed from the panel.