The Summer Of Juan Merchan's Discontent
Judge Merchan Identifies a May 29th Act of Jury Tampering By A Facebook Account Holder
Here is a brief description of jury tampering, as provided by Wikipedia:
Jury tampering is the crime of unduly attempting to influence the composition or decisions of a jury during the course of a trial. The means by which this crime could be perpetrated can include attempting to discredit potential jurors to ensure they will not be selected for duty. Once selected, jurors could be bribed or intimidated to act in a certain manner on duty. It could also involve making unauthorized contact with them for the purpose of introducing prohibited outside information and then arguing for a mistrial.
Given the explosive nature of Acting Judge Juan Merchan’s June 7th letter to counsel regarding a May 29th Facebook posting, President Trump's lawyers can be expected to pursue an aggressive response to that letter. Trump will in all likelihood file a motion to stay all proceedings (including the July 11th sentencing) until an investigation into the May 29th Facebook posting has been completed. A law enforcement agency is in a position to investigate and report back to the court with evidence and any factual determinations about the posting, including the identity of the person who entered the posting and his motivation for entering the Facebook posting. The defense team would normally then be expected file a response to these discoveries and Merchan could either accept the findings or reject them with a request to the New York State Attorney General to conduct its own investigation.
Alvin Bragg also has subpoena power and he obviously used it recently to subpoena witnesses all over the country for the Trump trial. Without a doubt, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg should be subpoenaed to obtain the identity of the person who identified himself as “Michael Anderson”. At the end of the day the burden falls on Judge Merchan to make a decision about his June 7th letter. It appears some people are not seeing the full gravity of the situation presented by Merchan's letter of June 7th. With that letter sitting out there, Merchan's hands are completely tied. It is difficult to comprehend the mentality of those who are claiming that Merchan will now just move forward with the Trump case as if nothing had occurred. He cannot do that. Merchan himself opened the door. Now he has to close it. But he cannot close it until a factual determination has been placed on the record.
In my view, both the prosecution and the defense should demand a lengthy deposition of each juror. They should also obtain names and specific information and photos of every cousin of each one of the 12 jurors and alternate jurors. Unless and until the court system is able to explain this away as being a hoax, the Trump matter is on hold. There can be no July 11th sentencing. But even if it turns out to be a “hoax” it is still reflective of a jury tampering effort, and that never goes away. Trump is not a "convicted felon" and this case cannot be reduced to final judgment ready for appeal until Merchan resolves this jury tampering issue.
The Facebook posting referred to in Merchan's June 7th letter was entered on May 29, 2024. This was the day before the verdict. Was this posting concealed? I have no idea if it was concealed, but if it was, why was it concealed? Who was in a position to conceal it? Why would anyone allow the jury to continue deliberating after this posting? How could the trial be allowed to continue on the morning of May 30th without each juror being questioned about this? During the first forty eight hours after Merchan issued his June 7th missive, many observers seemed to suggest that it was Trump's burden to do something about Merchan's letter. Granted, Trump's lawyers will file motions asking for the entire case to be stayed until an investigation of what happened has been completed.
But in the last analysis the burden lies on Merchan, not Trump, to explain what this is all about. As we sit here today, Trump still has interlocutory appeals to Merchan's rulings pending before the New York Appellate Division. In the middle of April, the public was informed that arguments on those appeals would be scheduled: "later in April". One can only hope that those appeals are not being slow walked. Even though the trial has been concluded, appeals filed by Trump prior to the verdict are not moot and they must still be resolved by the Appellate Division. But if the Appellate Division were to grant any of Trump's pretrial appeals, that could lead to a judgment of non pros on any conviction. There is also the specter of 5th Amendment double jeopardy rules. It is hard to imagine that Trump’s case could ever be retried after he obtains successful rulings on his interlocutory appeals.
Merchan's letter of June 7, 2024 can be viewed by some as effectively a complete, unconditional surrender. Over the last four days, people screaming that Merchan's letter of June 7th was no big deal because the Facebook post was a hoax are, ironically, not demanding that the hoaxer be identified and arrested. Why do you think this is? Because we all know this: once you slap those cuffs on someone and toss him into the back of a police squad car, he starts talking and says that he wants a lawyer. That could lead to interesting results. On my X account I called on the New York authorities to arrest the May 29, 2024 Facebook"shitposter" under NY PEN Section 215.50(5) for grossly inaccurate reporting of a court proceeding.
The media has shown no interest whatsoever in tracking down the Facebook poster. Perhaps a realization has set in that it simply does not matter if Michael Anderson (or whomever the person posting may have been) was just playing some sort of a game. Truth is, the damage was done. The jurors in their pre-selection questionnaires stated that Facebook was a primary news source for many of them. This fact was publicized before the jury was empaneled. The public was made aware that the jurors looked at Facebook and were permitted to do so because they were not sequestered.
Do we know if the “Michael Anderson” character was in fact a juror or an alternate juror? We do not know, one way or another, but it is certainly an issue worth exploring. Was an attempt being made on May 29th to intimidate any juror who may have been threatening to hang the deliberations? We do not know but it is worth exploring. Contrary to news reports, President Trump is not now a convicted felon. There has to be an order of court to render someone a convicted felon, not just a jury verdict. Even Judge Arthur Engeron went on record saying during a lecture he gave about the meaning of a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (judgment NOV) that in his experience “juries often get it wrong”, and therefore that is why a judge has the power to set aside a jury verdict. Until a final judgment is issued by Judge Merchan, no one can continue with the moronic mantra that "Trump is a convicted felon!" In my view, the Trump case is now effectively dead in the water and washed up on the beach. Without any official resolution of Merchan’s June 7th letter, there can be no sentencing on July 11th.