Ju­rors in the Amy An­na­muntho­do mur­der tri­al will get a re­prieve from hear­ing ev­i­dence in the mat­ter un­til next month. San Fer­nan­do First As­sizes judge An­tho­ny Car­mona, who is pre­sid­ing over the tri­al in which Mar­lon King is ac­cused of killing the four-year-old girl, said he would al­low ju­rors to cel­e­brate the Christ­mas hol­i­days since the fes­tive sea­son would be a "mas­sive dis­trac­tion."

"Next week is Christ­mas and I would not want to have you en­gaged in lis­ten­ing to the facts of this case when we have the Christ­mas spir­it, a mas­sive dis­trac­tion. We have to be re­al­is­tic," the judge said yes­ter­day. King, 38, is ac­cused of killing An­na­muntho­do, his step­daugh­ter, at their Mara­bel­la home on May 15, 2006. The tri­al will con­tin­ue next month since courts will be closed for the Christ­mas break from to­mor­row.