A man convicted of murder for setting an apartment building ablaze was not deprived of a fair trial by a juror who used her cell phone to call and send text messages during breaks, the North Dakota Supreme Court has ruled.

The juror, an 18-year-old college freshman, was replaced on the jury during the third day of the six-day trial after her behavior was discovered. She insisted she had not discussed the trial in her communications.

Jurors eventually convicted Benjamin Newman, of Bismarck, of murder and three other felonies for the May 2005 fire. The blaze killed Germaine Lewis, 75, who lived on the second floor of a three-story apartment building.

Prosecutors said Newman, now 61, was attempting to kill his former girlfriend, who lived on the building's ground floor. She was not home when the fire was set, and was not harmed. The apartment building was destroyed.

South Central District Judge Sonna Anderson had cautioned jurors against making cell-phone calls or sending text messages during the trial, which was held in September 2006.

Anderson dismissed the offending juror and questioned the jury's remaining members. They said they had not heard any outside information about the trial.

Newman's attorney, Robert Martin, argued in his client's appeal that Anderson had not questioned the juror closely enough about what she discussed with her friends. Newman also had a right to be present when the jurors were questioned about the incident, Martin contended.

The Supreme Court's decision, written by Justice Daniel Crothers, said Martin's trial attorneys did not object to Anderson's questioning of jurors without Newman present. There was no evidence the dismissed juror affected the jury's impartiality, Crothers wrote.

"Although the law with regard to jury conduct must be strictly followed, an appellate court will not set aside a verdict merely on a 'whimsy or fanciful notion' that prejudicial misconduct occurred," Crothers wrote. "There is no evidence that any juror sitting on the panel which decided this case heard or received any information about the case outside the courtroom."

Newman is serving a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole on the murder charge. He was represented at trial by Bismarck attorneys Thomas Glass and Steven Balaban. Martin handled Newman's appeal.