A second seated juror was dismissed on Thursday after they were sworn in by the judge presiding over the Stormy Daniels ‘hush money’ trial.
One juror on Thursday was already excused from service after she admitted to concerns about her impartiality upon being officially sworn in by Judge Juan Merchan.
“Yesterday alone, I had friends and family push things to me,” the first dismissed juror stated. “I don’t think at this point that I can be fair and unbiased.”
A second juror was dismissed over his past arrest. Details of juror number 4’s criminal past were not disclosed.
NBC News reported:
After they had a conference with the juror, Merchan announced he’s excusing juror No. 4, who had previously been seated and sworn him. His prior arrest was questioned by the DA.
A seated juror was called for questioning, with prosecutors inquiring about whether or not he was truthful in answering questions about his past criminal history.
Following a conference between the juror and Merchan, the judge said, the juror “expressed annoyance about how much information was out there about him in the public.”
And Merchan sealed the portion of the transcript where he says the juror discussed “highly personal” information.
Jury selection was underway on Thursday for Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s lawfare case against Trump. Last April Trump was hit with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and conspiracy.
Judge Merchan admonished the mainstream media for excessive exposure of juror information. He announced that potential jurors’ places of employment would be removed from the public record and instructed members of the media to refrain from describing jurors’ appearances.
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