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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
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Trump hush money trial judge scolds press after juror is dismissed over
fears she had been identified
By Hadas Gold, CNN
Updated:
1:47 PM EDT, Thu April 18, 2024
Source: CNN
The judge in former President Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial
in Manhattan scolded the press on Thursday for reporting information
that could potentially identify jurors assembled for the high-profile
case.
New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the
trial, told news outlets to watch how they report on the jurors and
forbade the press from reporting where jurors are employed. The ruling
came after one juror was dismissed from the trial after expressing
concerns that portions of her identity had been made public by the
news media.
The juror told the judge she had concerns that she could not be
impartial after those close to her asked if she was a juror on the
case.
“I’m directing that the press simply apply common sense and refrain
from writing about anything that has to do with physical descriptions,
it’s just not necessary, it serves no purpose,” the judge said,
according to pool report from the courtroom.
Concerns about the safety of prospective jurors are paramount in the
first ever criminal trial of a former president amid a
hyper-politicized atmosphere in the run up to the 2024 election.
“We just lost what probably would’ve been a very good juror,”
Merchan added. “The first thing she said was she was afraid and
intimidated by the press.”
Many news outlets have published stories about the jurors, including
some general information about those selected for the trial. But some
outlets, including Fox News, NBC, ABC, Politico and the New York Post,
had gone a step further, reporting the specific employer of at least
one of the jurors.
Merchan said on Thursday that he agreed with Trump’s attorneys that
information about prospective jurors’ employers is important, but
that he will direct those answers to be struck from the court record
and for the press not to report on them.
“It’s become a problem,” Merchan said.
Former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Toobin told CNN that Merchan could
hold news outlets in contempt if they publish identifying information
about a juror.
“The First Amendment presents an almost total bar on telling people
in advance what they can’t publish,” Toobin said. “The First
Amendment doesn’t bar punishing people for what they do publish.”
Toobin said it is “incumbent” upon the press to let the process
proceed and leave the jury alone, while also balancing the public’s
right to know.
“It’s important to recognize that the public has a strong interest
in everything about this trial, including the makeup of the jury, but
that can be done in a way that preserves their anonymity,” Toobin
added.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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