It has been noted that a couple of people who were selected to serve on the jury in former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York were excused on Thursday. It includes one woman who expressed concerns about being identified publicly and her ability to remain impartial via CBS News.
The number of seated jurors now stands at five on the third day of proceedings. Juror #2, who is a young woman was chosen to serve on Tuesday, said she “definitely has concerns now” about serving after friends and family asked her if she was a juror, based on media reports.
“Aspects of my identity have already been out there in public. Yesterday alone, I had friends and family push things to me,” she told the court on Thursday. “I don’t think at this point that I can be fair and unbiased.”
The judge, Juan Merchan, immediately reprimanded the press for reporting what he said was too much information about the jurors. He had ordered that questions about potential jurors’ employers would be redacted from the court record moving forward, and directed reporters not to mention jurors’ physical appearance.
Prosecutors raised concerns about Juror #4 and stated that they discovered information about someone sharing the person’s name who was arrested and potentially involved in a corruption investigation in the 1990s. The man arrived late to court and was briefly questioned by attorneys in front of the judge, out of earshot from the court’s microphones. Merchan ultimately decided to dismiss the man.
