Hate for Elon Musk narrows jury pool for his upcoming trial. Plaintiffs are suing him for misleading statements made regarding the twitter deal
https://www.courthousenews.com/contempt-for-musk-clouds-jury-selection-in-twitter-takeover-trial/
A large portion of jury selection focused on prospective jurors’ opinions of Musk and whether they would be able to be impartial.
“Whatever your opinion is on Mr. Musk, Twitter or Tesla, can you set it aside in the sense that you will judge the defendant based solely, emphasize solely, on the evidence produced in this trial and the law as I give it to you?” U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer asked the prospective jury pool.
Musk’s ties to the Trump administration were also a focal point of jury screening, with Breyer telling prospective jurors the case is “not a referendum on the president of the United States.”
“Even though you may have strong views on the presidency, this is not the forum where this is expressed,” he told prospective jurors, adding that they should affirm that “whatever your views of the presidency are, they are not going to influence your views in this case.”
More than a third of the initial jury pool indicated they could not serve impartially and were dismissed by the judge. Others were questioned by the parties about the answers they provided to the court, indicating a strongly held negative opinion of Musk.
Stephen Broome of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, an attorney for Musk, raised concerns with Breyer following jury screening that the court was “desensitized” to how improper it would be to seat jurors who expressed extreme dislike for the defendant. He claimed that if Musk was any other defendant, a juror who said “I hate that guy and he has no moral compass” would be dismissed.
Breyer pushed back, saying that the case was not like any other because Musk is a well-known public figure akin to a United States president, and jurors are allowed to have personal views on public figures.
“He is a public figure, and as a public figure, he will excite views, strong views. The question is whether or not they can set them aside,” said Breyer, a Bill Clinton appointee presiding over the trial.
The trial is scheduled to begin on March 2 and go through March 16 with nine jurors and no alternates. The defense has not indicated whether or not Musk will testify at trial.
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janea4old ·
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