Prosecutors in Trump’s #criminal trial say he has violated a #GagOrder barring him from attacking #witnesses, #jurors & others close to the case. Testimony is set to resume later Tuesday morning.
#Conroy says #Trump violated the #GagOrder when on Truth Social, he quoted #FauxNews commentator #JesseWatters characterization of prospective jurors as “undercover liberal activists." Prosecutors flagged this as the most serious of the violations & Conroy now says it’s “very troubling."
Conroy points to the timing, last Wed evening. The next morning, Juror2 asked to be excused, upsetting Justice #Merchan. He complimented the #juror after excusing her, saying she would have done a good job. #law
#Conroy says that #Trump “violates the order when he posts about known #witnesses or reasonably forseeable witnesses,” & “violates the order when he posts about a #juror or prospective juror.”
Throwing a "#MAGA" into a post doesn't make it #political, Conroy says, dismissing the idea that Trump's comments fall under the category of protected political speech. It may, in fact, make it more ominous, Conroy adds.
Alright, who’s ready to see #Trump get his just deserts? He fucked up the whole damn world & that’s not an overstatement.
PS #BabySquirrel & I had a lovely weekend. It’s as boy! (He’s developed discernible - stuff)
He is doing quite well! Name: “Ramone” because he’s a sweet little punk rocker.
Lawyers indicated that their opening statements will take a little more than an hour combined. Justice Juan #Merchan also noted that one #juror reached out before court resumed to express nervousness about the media attention surrounding the case, but the judge added that the juror is still here.
Someone who's this angry about being rejected as a #juror after being caught lying about past criminal charges is exactly the type of person who shouldn't be on the #jury. This guy clearly had an agenda, and was rightly dismissed. Great work by #JudgeMerchan and the prosecutor!
A #juror was quickly dismissed at the start. She was among the 7 already selected, she said she was very worried that despite the fact the court ruled to keep jurors’ name secret, she would still be exposed & targeted.
The #juror explained that aspects of her being part of the jury are now out in #public. She said she was concerned about people knowing her identity.
The juror is worried about what has already been reported about her publicly. She said she had friends, colleagues & family conveying to her that she had been identified as a potential juror.
"There's a reason this is an #anonymous#jury & why we have taken the steps we have taken," Justice #Merchan says, asking that the #press "abide common sense," & avoid physical descriptions.
Merchan says we lost a #juror who he thinks would have "been a very good juror."
"I'm directing the press to refrain from writing anything you observe w/your eyes & hear w/your ears that's not on the record," the judge says.
The #defense is objecting to skipping the question about current & past employers.
"That's not fair," #Trump atty Susan Necheles said of being denied the info.
#Merchan asks the #press not to report the answers to questions 3a & 3d on the #juror questionnaire: "Who is your current employer?" & "Who was your prior employer?"
"I have the #legal authority to do it,” he says of blocking the press from reporting info about jurors' employers.
A Manhattan DA prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, said that #juror 4 or someone w/ their name seems to have been #arrested in the 1990s in Westchester for tearing down #political ads. After some more research, he says, they also found that the juror's wife was previously involved in a #corruption inquiry & cooperated w/ the DA's office. This means that the juror, if they've identified the right person, #lied in response to one of the questions on the questionnaire.
#Merchan is now saying that the DA’s office came across information about juror #4 that called the veracity of that juror's answers into questions. The juror did not arrive at court on time.
The judge notes that the #juror was asked to be here at 9:15 & is still not here, & he expressed some reluctance to come in this morning. He is letting the parties discuss whether to dismiss the juror or wait for him.
#GagOrder Against #Trump Is Expanded to Stop Attacks on Judge’s Family
Donald Trump had in recent days targeted the daughter of Juan #Merchan, the judge overseeing his #criminal trial in Manhattan, in blistering social media posts.
#Merchan: “Such concerns will undoubtedly #interfere w/the fair administration of #justice & constitutes a direct attack on the #RuleOfLaw itself. Again, all citizens, called upon to participate in these proceedings, whether as a #juror, a #witness, or in some other capacity, must now concern themselves not only w/their own personal #safety, but w/the safety & the potential for personal attacks upon their loved ones. That reality cannot be overstated.”
#IndieCup is an online festival of upcoming #IndieGames. This specific edition celebrates Canadian games, awarding the best games under different categories. The first round of jurying consists of looking and evaluating gameplay videos of some of the Canadian games submitted. So during our Monday Oct 16th stream we'll watch some of these videos together 🎉
Well I finished jury duty about an hr ago. The whole process was interesting as I have never actually been selected all the way through and sat on one.
The whole thing should have gone to trial, absolutely stupid but hey, got me off the phones today.
Trump Forced to See Mean Memes About Him Shared by Prospective Jurors (www.rollingstone.com)
Seven jurors were selected for Trump's hush-money trial as others were dismissed for sharing negative memes and social media content about him.