Update: While the legitimacy of the letter issued by Judge Merchan has not been refuted, Facebook user “Michael Anderson” has posted the following:
Last week, President Trump was convicted in the New York case brought by DA Alvin Bragg, who ran for the office under the promise of “get Trump.” The President was convicted on 34 felony counts of “falsifying business records” in regards to alleged repayments of what the prosecution claimed were “hush money” payments made by his then-attorney and now-convicted perjurer Michael Cohen.
The jury deliberated for a little over nine hours before deciding on a still-unknown predicate crime assumed to be federal campaign violations. Judge Merchan bizarrely gave instructions to the jurors that they could all agree that a crime was committed, beyond the falsifying charges, but didn’t necessarily have to agree unanimously on which crime was committed.
While that crime was never defined, it nonetheless gave Bragg the authority to bring the 34 misdemeanor counts as felonies, thus negating the statute of limitations. Elevating these misdemeanors to felonies is in contradiction to Bragg typically downgrading felonies to misdemeanors in over half of the felony cases his office has tried, according to The Daily Mail.
President Trump was supposed to be sentenced on July 11th, however, a new development could call into question the entire case. The day before the conviction was handed down, a Facebook user by the name “Michael Anderson” commented that Trump was going to be convicted, sourcing that claim to his cousin, who he claimed was on the jury.
Judge Merchan issued a letter to all parties today stating:
Today, the Court became aware of a comment that was posted on the Unified Court System’s public Facebook page and which I now bring to your attention. In the comment, the user, “Michael Anderson,” states:
‘My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted. Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!!”
The comment, now labeled as one week old, responded to a routine UCS notice, posted on May 29, 2024, rcgarding oral arguments in the Fourth Department of the Appellate Division unrelated to this proceeding. The posting, entitled “The Appellate Division, Fourth Department, will hear oral arguments this morning at 10,” and the comment are both viewable at https://www. facebook.com/NewYorkCourts/.
Below is a copy of the letter:
Online users responded to this latest development:
Uh oh! It looks like there was juror misconduct in the #TrumpTrial!
We knew these jurors would not be able to avoid telling their friends and relatives that were going to get Trump
It’s time for a mistrial “with prejudice” and no retrial!
But will Merchan do the right thing? pic.twitter.com/HyfnlUVFlZ
— Phil Holloway ✈️ (@PhilHollowayEsq) June 7, 2024
BREAKING: Judge Merchan has notified all parties in the New York case of a Facebook post made a day before Trump’s conviction by someone who may have known one of the jurors. New York law requires the verdict nullified and NEW TRIAL held
“My cousin is a juror and Trump is… pic.twitter.com/wai4dFKHpL
— George (@BehizyTweets) June 7, 2024
Mistrial? https://t.co/pE9bcH4aW6
— Mike Davis (@mrddmia) June 7, 2024
The Facebook post appears to be from a troll but Merchan did not specify whether he considered it serious.
It does seem likely to be a fake — but Merchan didn’t indicate one way or the other whether he considered it serious. May have been sharing out of an abundance of caution in case others saw the screenshot. https://t.co/3MDf274OdZ
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 7, 2024