A new juror in the second murder trial of Edward Holley sparked some concern in the courtroom Tuesday because of her professional background.

It was one of many matters that led to clashes between the prosecution and defense, and even between the defense and the judge.

The juror was called up from the pool of alternate jurors Monday to replace a juror who had a family emergency.

She is a private school science teacher with some background in forensics.

About an hour after she joined deliberations, the jury sent Orange County Judge Judge Hyun Chin Kim a note requesting to review several elements of the forensic investigation, mainly about DNA evidence in the 2003 murder case.

The prosecution asked the judge to read the jury instructions meant especially for jurors who have certain expertise that might apply to the matters at hand.

The defense strongly opposed the instructions saying, at this stage, reading the instructions might isolate the new juror and or confuse the entire jury.

Prosecutors argued that in March 2003, Holley attacked his ex-girlfriend Megan McDonald, of the Town of Wallkill, in her car, hit her in the head with a blunt object at least 20 times as the fight moved outside the car.

The main evidence in the prosecution's mostly circumstantial case is low-match DNA analysis done by Cybergenetics, a company consulted by New York State Police.

The analysis of mixtures of DNA on Megan's cellphone found the DNA on Megan's cellphone was 53 times more likely to match Holley than a random person.

The company's representative testified that is a low probability figure.

Kim said the new juror's background presented, "a change in circumstances" that had to be addressed.

She read the instructions to the whole jury, reminded them not to inject their own expertise into deliberations and that they can only use evidence that has been presented in the trial to make a decision.

The jury also asked to review testimony about DNA evidence from the Cybergenetics representative and New York State Police.

The defense and prosecution again fought over which segments of their testimony would be responsive to the jury's request.

Kim ended up going back to chambers to read the testimony and make the decision herself.

The jury will return Wednesday morning for Day 8 of deliberations.