SAN DIEGO (AP) — A San Diego judge has dismissed an entire jury panel after prosecutors dismissed a gay man as a potential juror in a same-sex marriage case.

Superior Court Judge Joan Weber ruled Tuesday that defendants in the case were denied a representative jury and called the city attorney office's actions "shocking."

The case stems from the 2010 arrest of nine people at the city clerk's office where they protested Proposition 8, California's same-sex marriage ban.

Prosecutors say the potential juror indicated he had protested in support of gay rights issues in the past, so they deemed him an unsuitable juror for the case.

Attorneys for the accused activists say prosecutors systematically excluded gay people from the jury, violating their client's right to a jury of peers.