The federal judge overseeing the trial of longtime Trump associate Roger Stone denied his motion for a new trial based on a claim of juror bias.
During a hearing in late February, two jurors testified that the woman — later selected as the jury foreperson — never tried to pressure them during deliberations to reach any particular conclusion or told them about news articles or internet postings she saw. To the contrary, one of the jurors said, the forewoman insisted that the jurors be more careful about one of the counts against Stone and that they make sure the government had met its burden of proof.
Another was a retweet of a comment by civil rights activist Bakari Sellers, contrasting Republican outrage over the FBI's arrest of Stone and the lack of such outcry over police use of force against black defendants.Stone's lawyers contended that the forewoman was not honest when she was asked on her juror questionnaire whether she had ever publicly posted comments about Stone, the House investigation of Russian election meddling or special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
In her testimony, the forewoman — whose name has been widely reported but was not disclosed in court — said she was thinking only about Stone when she filled out the questionnaire, not about his association with Trump. Stone was sentenced in February to 3-1/3 years in prison but was allowed to remain free on bail while the judge considered his motion for a new trial. His lawyers will almost certainly appeal his conviction and ask that he be allowed to remain out while the case is on appeal.Pete Williams is an NBC News correspondent who covers the Justice Department and the Supreme Court, based in Washington.
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