[This is a developing story. It will be updated as information becomes available.]
Update: The trial has resumed with all 12 jurors
The federal hog nuisance trial against Murphy-Brown and Smithfield Foods has been stopped, at least temporarily, because a juror allegedly brought in printed material about the N.C. Farm Act debate.
According to a source with knowledge of the inner workings of the trial, the juror may have also passed the material on to other jurors.
The trial is on hold until US District Court Judge Earl Britt decides whether to dismiss the juror or jurors involved— or to declare a mistrial.
The trial could proceed with as few as six jurors. During the first trial, two jurors were dismissed for personal reasons, such as illness.
Murphy-Brown lost the first trial, which prompted Sen. Brent Jackson to sponsor SB 711, the N.C. Farm Act. The bill would all but erase the rights of neighbors of industrialized hog farms to sue for nuisance.