HARRISBURG — A juror who two days earlier had told the judge the jury was turning on each other was dismissed because of illness today in the theft, conspiracy and conflict-of-interest trial of a former Pennsylvania lawmaker and three former aides.

Dauphin County Judge Richard Lewis told the remaining jurors and their new member, in open court, that they had to start over in the case of former Beaver County Democratic Rep. Mike Veon and co-defendants Brett Cott, Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink and Steve Keefer.

Lewis said defense attorneys and prosecutors had met with the sick woman in his chambers, and that the woman's dismissal had nothing to do with the case or her position regarding the public-corruption criminal charges.

As jurors were being sent home for the day late Wednesday, the now-dismissed juror raised her hand and told Lewis that deliberations had been "hard for everybody."

"We're turning on each other," she told Lewis at the time, and she and two other jurors appeared to be crying.

Keefer's attorney, Bill Fetterhoff, said he was not aware of any link between the woman's comments to Lewis on Wednesday and her dismissal on grounds of illness.

"It's not unusual for someone to become ill for any reason, and life goes on," Fetterhoff said. "The jury sitting doesn't exclude the realities of life."

After six weeks of trial, jurors have been debating the charges for more than 30 hours over six days.