Judge Removes Murdaugh Juror Amid Laughter

The Alex Murdaugh double-murder trial in South Carolina has been a grim affair, but Thursday morning saw a rare thing in the courtroom: laughter. It came during an otherwise serious matter, as Judge Clifton Newman informed a juror she was being dismissed because she had talked about the case with at least two other people outside the courtroom. The exchange was pleasant, notes the AP, as the judge praised the woman's work during the trial and said her mistake didn't appear to be malicious. The laughter came when Newman asked her if she had anything to retrieve from the jury room.

When she mentioned she had a dozen eggs back there, Newman laughed and asked her to repeat herself. She seemed to be laughing a bit, too. (Watch it here.) "We've had a lot of interesting things, but now a dozen eggs," the judge said to laughter in the courtroom. He asked the bailiff to retrieve the woman's eggs, along with her purse and a bottle of water, per TMZ. An alternate replaced the woman as the case headed into closing arguments, reports NBC News. (More Alex Murdaugh stories.)