Roll Call reports that an alternate juror has been added to the jury in the Stevens trial.

In an unusual Sunday hearing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled that a juror who has been absent from the courthouse since Friday to attend her father’s funeral in California would be removed from the jury.

An alternate juror, a white woman, will begin to serve on the panel Monday morning, a decision that will require the jury to begin its deliberations from scratch.

Stevens’ attorneys objected to the ruling, asserting that the court should wait until Monday afternoon to see whether the absent juror would be able to continue.

Sullivan denied that request, noting that court personnel had attempted to contact the juror Friday and Sunday without success.

“I think we’ve been more than reasonable in attempting to reach out,” Sullivan said, later adding, “We have four alternates for this reason.”