One of the seven seated jurors in former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial was excused on Thursday by the New York Court after telling the court that people she knew had identified her from press reports and she wasn’t sure if she could remain unbiased.
This development has prompted Judge Juan Merchan to restrict how much the press can report about potential jurors in the case.
The juror, a nurse identified only as “Juror 2”—told the court that she believed she “definitely has concerns now” about whether she could be impartial in the case, CNN reports, citing the fact that friends, family and colleagues had reached out to her based on press reports to ask if she was involved with the case.
Juror 2 previously said during jury selection she “didn’t really” have an opinion of Trump and believed “no one is above the law.”
Merchan excused the juror as a result, telling the press present in the courtroom that they should no longer report on jurors’ physical appearances or anything that isn’t on the record.
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The judge also ruled that while the court will continue to ask potential jurors about their current and former employers, that information will be redacted on the court record, and journalists should not report it—telling the press and counsel that doing so has become a problem.
Jury selection is expected to continue through the end of the week, with Merchan saying that he believed opening arguments in the trial would tentatively begin Monday morning. The jury is not yet complete, as only six people have now been sworn in as jurors—previously seven—and 12 jurors plus six alternates are ultimately needed in total. Once the trial gets underway with opening arguments, it is expected to last for approximately six weeks.
Trump has been indicted on 34 felony counts of falsification of business records based on reimbursement payments he made to ex-attorney Michael Cohen, who paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 before the 2016 election to cover up her alleged affair with Trump, however he pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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