DURHAM, N.C. — Jurors in Michael Peterson's murder trial ended their fourth day of deliberations Thursday much as they have every day of the three-month proceeding, with Judge Orlando Hudson Jr. reminding them to avoid media coverage of the case.

But what if the media won't avoid them ?

That conundrum surfaced Thursday when a juror turned over a letter she had received in the mail from a local television station inviting her, and others on the panel, to an informal dinner at the station to discuss the case after they reach a verdict.

"It's been like reading tea leaves trying to sort out your thoughts," reads the letter, dated Oct. 6 and signed by local reporter Sonya Pfeiffer. "I'm hoping you might be willing to share some of those thoughts with me now that the evidence is behind us."

While excused jurors are free to discuss the case, the media is expressly forbidden to contact jurors before they finish deliberations. Pfeiffer and the station could have been held in contempt and fined, as Carol Saline, a staff writer at Philadelphia Magazine, was in 2002 after talking to a juror in Rabbi Fred Neulander's murder trial.

Both Court TV and Dateline NBC prepared letters to jurors as well, but gave them to Hudson to hold until after the jury reaches a verdict.

Prosecutors stopped short of asking for a formal sanction against the TV station, ABC affiliate WTVD, but did ask Hudson to query the juror as to whether the letter had affected her ability to be fair and impartial.

Defense lawyer David Rudolf successfully opposed the request.

"We would oppose, in essence, making a mountain out of a molehill here," said Rudolf.

Hudson simply joked that he might just "go upstairs and take some aspirin or something," and later handed the jury foreperson a letter instructing her not to respond to WTVD's request.

After the revelation, Pfeiffer approached Hudson's bench and had a two-minute discussion with him before leaving the courtroom.

Later, the station's news director, Rob Elmore, released a statement Thursday calling the letter an accident.

"WTVD reporter, Sonya Pfeiffer, with my approval, wrote letters to the jurors in the Peterson trial," said Elmore. "It was our intention to mail the letters after the verdict was reached, not while they were deliberating.

"Unfortunately, the letters were mailed prematurely. We apologize to the court, the parties and the jurors for any inconvenience the incident may have caused."

Elmore did not return calls for comment.

Meanwhile, jurors, who were unaware of the drama outside their deliberation room, continued deliberations, which have spanned more than 14 hours so far. On Thursday, they asked for transcripts of testimony from Dr. James McElhaney, an injury biomechanics expert, and John Butts, the chief medical examiner for the state of North Carolina. Both experts testified in the state's rebuttal case.

McElhaney testified that the wounds on Kathleen Peterson's head were not consistent with a stairway fall. Butts' testimony helped refute the defense's theory that Peterson could have coughed up blood in the stairwell, noting that very little blood was found in her lungs.

If the jury is working through evidence chronologically, the request for testimony from the end of the state's case could signal it is reaching the end of its analysis.

But it is unlikely, the jury will ever see those transcripts.

Transcripts of the testimony from the state's experts were not yet available. Defense attorney Rudolf objected to holding up deliberations, and Hudson decided to deny the jury's request, telling jurors to rely on their memories and notes.

"I believe part of the reason we have 12 jurors is to ... make sure we have 24 eyes and 24 ears," said Hudson.

Jurors will begin their fifth day of deliberation Friday at 9:30 a.m.