New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan excused a juror in former President Donald Trump’s New York “hush money” trial today. The juror stated she felt she was unable to remain unbiased, stating, “I don’t believe at this point that I can be fair and unbiased and let the outside influences not affect my decision making in the courtroom,” after friends, family, and co-workers contacted her asking if she was seated on the jury, indicating her identity had been made public.
According to The Associated Press, after excusing the juror Merchan stated, “We just lost what probably would have been a very good juror,” and ordered journalists covering the trial to not report “prospective jurors’ answers to questions about their current and former employers.”
A juror who was earlier excused told MSNBC her impression of Trump when she saw him: “He looked less orange, definitely, like more yellowish … he doesn’t look angry, or, I think he looks bored, like he wants this to finish and go do his stuff.”
