Peterson On Trial: Alternate Juror Speaks Out Following Dismissal

DURHAM, N.C. — Following her release from jury duty in the Mike Peterson trial, the final alternate juror is speaking out.

Mary Bruckshen was released from jury duty by Judge Orlando Hudson Monday before the start of deliberations. Bruckshen said her life has changed after spending five months as an alternate juror.

While she will not decide Mike Peterson's fate, she does have an opinion. She said she believes Peterson will walk out of the courthouse a free man in the death of his wife, Kathleen.

"I don't think she fell down the stairs. I honestly don't believe she fell down the stairs," Bruckshen said. "Something else happened there. I think it may be murder, but I don't think they proved it all the way. Not for first-degree murder."

"I was stressed the last two months of it, so I can imagine what they're feeling right now," Bruckshen said of now being an outsider looking in.

Bruckschen said the last two months of sitting on the jury was hard work. She bonded with the other jurors, but said she is happy to have been relieved of her duty.

"I don't ever want to sit on jury duty again. I think I've done my service for my whole life, in the five months I was there," she said.

Bruckschen expects the jury to take at least a week to reach a verdict.