Trump rebuked as hush-money trial judge warns against juror intimidation

MicroWave@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 280 points – Trump rebuked as hush-money trial judge warns against juror intimidation
theguardian.com

Juan Merchan admonishes ex-president for ‘gesturing and speaking in the direction of the juror’ as jury selection continues

Donald Trump met a stern rebuke on Tuesday from the jurist presiding over his criminal hush-money trial, with the judge warning: “I won’t have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom.”

Trump’s apparent misbehavior did not derail the trial’s progress; seven jurors were picked by day’s end.

Judge Juan Merchan’s comment came shortly after jury selection resumed after lunch. Trump’s team had found video on one possible juror’s social media that appeared to show a street celebration over his loss in the 2020 election.

She was called in to answer questions about it, and when she left, Merchan directly addressed Trump’s lawyers. “Your client was audible,” Merchan said, noting that she was just 12ft from him.

“It was audible. He was gesturing and he was speaking in the direction of the juror,” Merchan said, insisting he would not accept such behavior.

“I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom,” Merchan admonished. “Take a minute to speak to your client.”

Merchan’s warning to Trump marked a sharp diversion from what was otherwise a relatively routine jury selection process.

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Oh no another warning, I bet he is crying spray tan all over his my pillow tonight boy I tell ya.

Yeah, but this is day two of a criminal procedure. To date, Trump has only FAFO'd on civil trials. Shit's about to get real different if he plays around in the same way.

This shit has actual consequences.

People have been saying shit like this since before he was elected.

A warning and belittlement. "Talk to your client". The godfather wasn't addressed.

Man, the number of judges who won't actually put Trump in jail for violating court orders is longer than my dick.

Is it a short list, or is the prining reeeaaaally small?

Sorry, couldn't help myself. I'm sure you have a perfectly adequate dick. Have a great day.

I like the fact that you're too nice to let yourself get away with a dick joke without apologizing for it

I.....am Canadian....it's a psychological affliction. Sorry.

You monster! You didn't say that in both English and French! Someone call the RCMP!

It's fine, I live in Scotland, it'll take time for extradition to go through.

Ohh, how about rebuking him with a big ass fine for violating that gag order though?

There is at least a fair chance the orange butthole will face real consequences if he breaks the rules again ... although I will admit I have only a little hope of it happening.

🤞🤞🤞

If he breaks the rules again

Everyone knows the time-honored "50 strikes and you are out" rule of legal proceedings

I wish it were as low as 50.

So fines, thats a civil trial. This is a criminal trial. He can get hauled to the slammer.

Not at all outside the scope of the trial. Actually, the prosecutors asked for a 3k fine. Within the judge’s ability to do. You can be penalized for violating any judge’s order in any trial.

Edit: I actually only read like one article about the trial today. Yesterday they requested $3k fine during hearings yesterday and I didn’t see any headlines about Trump being fined today, so I am assuming it didn’t happen.

Sure. But he can go to the slammer.

I’m not holding my breath until it actually happens.

This whole trump business has shined a studio spotlight on how blatantly corrupt the US justice system is.

If you had some random dude on trial for fraud or theft of government property, he’d be in jail that night with a bond so high no bond company would touch it with a ten mile pole. If that same dude then threatened jury members during selection, he’d already have a trial date for tampering with the jury.

But trump is a rich boy and a former president, so he gets to walk free and threaten all the jurors he wants, with only his lawyers getting a stern talking to. It’s a joke. The wealthy have long been protected from the legal system by the legal system, and this whole trump fiasco has only highlighted how blatant it is. He said the quiet part out loud back in 2016 when he said he could shoot a man on 5th avenue and walk away. He knew the game, and knew nothing he did would earn him real consequences due to his wealth and status.

Until I see him in cuffs on his way to a jail, I’m just going to assume the system is working exactly how it was designed to.

You throwing cold water on my fever dream of Trump having to beg for Ambien because he only has five packs of ramen.

I think every sane person in this country wants to see someone held accountable for their actions.

Unfortunately, we’ve also seen the wealthy and powerful get away with, or at the worst, get slaps on the wrist, for everything from fraud to rape.

The are zero real consequences for this conduct, so he will not change his behavior. The rest of us would have been fined and jailed for contempt over far less.

Fuck yeah! He was sternly rebuked! The law is not to be messed with. I'm sure his lawyers just made an oversight in telling him the rules and now there will be no more shenanigans.

His local campaign stop in Harlem allows him to make a serious play at winning his native state despite its heavily Democratic lean.

Uhhh... Maybe leave this level of political interpretation to a domestic paper, Guardian.

Wait, the author is American? Wow.

Also, click through to the link even if you don't like to read stories before commenting. There's an image halfway through of a brown bodega owner looking very concerned about Trump being in his store and holding on to his young son tightly. It very well might have been a great interaction with one of the odd minority Trump supporters, but damn it if the image doesn't tell a whole story.

“They want law and order ... every week they’re being robbed,” Trump said of businesses in New York, as he tried to compare his prosecution with the state of New York streets. “You know where the crime is? It’s in the bodegas.”

Lol. This bodega is in a sleepy part of Manhattan with immigrants and young families. The major "crimes" are rent prices and a few losers stealing ho-hos.

Donald is one of the people robbing businesses. Oh, my mistake, it's not real crime if you defraud contractors.

Damn Trump stole ho-hos? I guess I can see that since this trial is about paying ….

I assume Trump has secret service wherever he goes especially during campaign season, there is literally snipers and armed gunmen all around when they show up

Maybe the press could help with this by not releasing personally identifiable information of jurors during their coverage of the trial

So what's the plan with this case?

Kicked up to SCOTUS for them to sit on?

6 month deliberation over which juror likes Taylor swift more?

Or maybe just I nice simple $10 penalty payable in 4 years or something