Roger Stone Is Denied a New Trial Over Biased Juror Claim

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump’s longtime ally Roger Stone is a step closer to prison after a judge rejected his plea for a new trial -- a victory for embattled prosecutors and jurors who were widely attacked by the president.

The decision was issued Thursday in Washington by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who rejected Stone’s claim that the foreperson for the jury that convicted him was dishonest and politically biased.

Stone’s request “is a tower of indignation,” wrote Jackson, a Barack Obama appointee who was also attacked by the president on Twitter. “But at the end of the day, there is little of substance holding it up.”

Stone has two weeks to report to prison, or file an appeal, Jackson said. Stone’s lawyer, Seth Ginsberg, said in an email that the legal team is reviewing Jackson’s decision and will determine how to proceed in the coming days.

https://news.yahoo.com/roger-stone-denied-trial-over-223741084.html

[SWBTATTReg]

1. No one is listening to this gutter mouth. His obvious contempt for the rule of law was very...

obvious when I saw a clip of him along w/ his attorney, who was desperately trying to keep him quiet (he was ranting and raving as usual). It wasn't a pretty sight and he literally is despicable.

[soryang]

2. I don't find the reasoning of the court all that persuasive

I despise Roger Stone, but the propensity of courts to routinely accept venire responses to voir dire inquiry at face value is a problem with the US jury trial system. While one can debate the merits of this back and forth, I think the record might give a window to a conservative appellate review to reverse the district court decision. There has been a right wing trend in the judiciary for decades to weaken the protections afforded by a fair and impartial jury. Ironically, a conservatively biased appellate court could provide a window for strengthening the right to jury trial while resulting in an injustice in this particular case.