LODI JUROR REMOVED FROM PANEL

**Welcome Marathon Pundit and Michelle Malkin Readers**

Andrea Clabaugh was on the jury hearing the case against Hamid Hayat for 6 weeks, but today she was excused from her duties.

Clabaugh, 2 weeks ago, recalled that she once dated a local sheriff and brought it to the attention of the judge. He thought it over, then decided she had to go.

But the big news isn't her being removed from the jury, it's what she had to say about the case. From the Sacramento Bee:

"Beyond a reasonable doubt hasn't been proven at this point," Clabaugh, 39, said in a hallway interview with reporters.

On Hayat's confession:

"I felt like he was being badgered" by FBI agents, Clabaugh said of the confession. "I felt like he was giving them information because they refused to believe he didn't know anything. It seemed like he was fed names by the agents. It didn't seem like Hamid actually volunteered anything."

The FBI's informant testimony:

Regarding the conversations with Khan, she said, "I got a picture of a young kid who wanted to impress an older man, but it doesn't mean those were things he would actually follow through on."

Her parting comment:

"As of this moment, the government has not proven its case to me," said Clabaugh, an account manager for a Sacramento structural engineering firm.

As the case nears its end, this can't be viewed as good news. There will be more on this case in the days to come, but for now, you can read today's article here. (reg req)

Other Lodi trial posts here.