Libby Judge Dismisses Jurror

[orleans]

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- A juror was dismissed from the trial of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on Monday after court officials learned she had been exposed to information about the case over the weekend.

"U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton ordered the juror removed, saying "what she had exposure to obviously disqualifies her." The judge declined to say what information the juror had seen.

"Walton said the remaining jurors had not been tainted. He said he would allow deliberations to continue with 11 jurors rather than calling on one of two alternate jurors.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/02/26/cia.leak.ap/index.html

more at cnn link

[orleans]

1. msnbc reported that this was the museum curator who

broke with the rest of the jurors and wouldn't wear the red t-shirt on valentines day

[StrictlyRockers]

2. Firedoglake already reported this, too. And this thread is a dup of one I posted.

http://www.firedoglake.com/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2746357

SR

[ClintonTyree]

3. Great...

this certainly has to be grounds for an appeal....which will drag this thing on ad nauseum. Libby will still be free and by the time they get around to a final verdict, BOOM... pardon time from "the decider". No harm, no foul, everyone goes on their merry way. :grr:

[Spazito]

4. The defense, on the record, argued FOR the continuation of deliberations

with 11 jurors which mitigates, at the very least, their ability to use this as a grounds for appeal, imo.

[ClintonTyree]

5. I guess I should read the entire article...

before spouting off. Mea culpa. ;)

[Spazito]

6. LOL, I have done the same more times than I want to acknowledge,

enough times that I have learned to use the left over crow feathers as floss!

[wryter2000]

21. LOL

There is a use for crow feathers! I've been wondering what to do with mine. I was going to recycle them, but I couldn't tell if they go in with the paper and cans or the garden and kitchen waste.

[orleans]

18. that would be my guess too. they can appeal--but not based on this. n/t

[FatDave]

7. Seems odd...

I don't know enough about the legal system to say for sure, but that doesn't seem like its exactly standard operating procedure to dismiss a juror then continue on with 11. Anybody know of anything like this before? Hell, maybe it happens all the time, I dunno...

[chelsea0011]

9. I had the opposite situation on a jury I sat in on

We had one alternate left when deliberations began and the judge added him/her to the pool making us a jury of 13. There must be digressions for this.

[garybeck]

8. Something stinks here.....

I don't know but anytime I read Wells is happy and Fitz is pissed, I get concerned. What kind of information could the juror have been exposed to?

Is this going to be another O.J. letdown?

[StrictlyRockers]

10. Art Curator Dismissed From Libby Trial

http://www.firedoglake.com/

The juror who was dismissed was the art curator who wouldn't wear red on Valentine's day. Wells is reportedly quite happy with the results, and we hear Mr. Fitzgerald came as close to losing that poker face as he has — he was evidently quite pissed.

CW has it that things are going to be a bit nutty from hereon in.





SR

[POAS]

11. I hop we don't we a mistrial !!!

[bigworld]

12. That's a weird web page

... was ever other domain name taken or something?

[goclark]

13. Do you think they got to the Art nut? nt

[LiberalFighter]

16. Why the hell should a juror be dismissed cause he won't wear red on Valentine's Day?

Was that the Judge or Libby's counsel?

OKAY it wasn't cause she didn't wear red. It was supposedly cause she was exposed to media exposure of the trial.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

17. She sounds like the only one with common sense & independence.

The red-tee shirt wearers sounded like a bunch of sheep or something.

[cascadiance]

14. I'm always skeptical about Reggie "I dismiss state secrets cases" Walton...

I'm hoping he's not trying to axe a "roadblock" juror to dismissing the charges, etc., though I admit I've not yet caught up on reading the details of this announcement yet today.

[JennyH]

15. Thinking back over the past few days . . . .

the most obvious, trial related item in the print media was that
tacky, hideous op-ed in the WaPo

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021601705.html

(comment)

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/5585


The only other thing that caught my attention was an article about the possibility that Plame was set up to be outed even before Wilson's yellow-cake article. It's also the subject of this DU thread . . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x289061


Of course, this woman might have picked up information via TV.

Any more ideas about what she discussed with other jurors, this a.m.?

Why would a (presumed) well educated, intelligent person start right off blathering about media comments unless she was attempting to disrupt the deliberations?

[orleans]

19. i'd be interested in finding out what really happened here--but i think

she should be fined or given a couple weeks in the slammer for deliberately disobeying the judge's orders (if that is what she did)

[Rebellious Republican]

20. Thanks for the links, good read! Welcome to DU. N/T

:hi:

[wryter2000]

22. Welcome to DU

:hi:

[JDPriestly]

24. Maybe the story about the woman isn't true.

Maybe someone on the jury who didn't like her made the whole thing about her being exposed to information that was not learned during the trial up. Maybe this woman just didn't agree with the foreman and the majority of the other jurors.

As for Fitzgerald being angry, let's remember he is a federal prosecutor. He could earn a lot more money in private practice. He is a really straight arrow guy who is devoted to doing his duty -- a real soldier. He sacrifices on a daily basis for his country and for what he believes is right. That is the nature of a real top prosecutor -- as it is of a real top soldier.

If the story about this woman was true, Fitzgerald may have been angry to think she was disobeying the rules. She may have intentionally done this to get off the jury. That would make Fitzgerald madder than anything since he really values doing one's duty.

On the other hand, it is also possible that Wells said something in the judge's chambers that pushed Fitzgerald's buttons. Could have been something personal. Could have been something professional.

It is very likely that we will not know what happened for quite a while.

[knight_of_the_star]

23. Why wasn't that jury sequestered from the beginning?

With a trial like this they should have been sequestered from day one to avoid this kind of thing.

[orleans]

27. i asked the same question on another thread

and the first answer i got was "so they could make their book deals faster?" (thanks atomickitten)

i laughed--but i'm still wondering why the hell they weren't sequestered.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3135484&mesg_id=3135485

[goforit]

25. OMG!!! If they only dangled life imprisonment for tainted jurors!!!

[Doctor Panacea]

26. I distrusted her

Frankly, I distrusted her when she was the only one not to wear the Valentine's Day shirt. I was surprised when I heard today that the dismissed jury was, in fact, the one who did not wear the shirt.

Someone here mentioned that she was "independent" in a positive way. I disagree. I think she was likely someone who was stubbornly trying to show that she was not part of the jury.

It would be interesting to know exactly what happened.

[orleans]

28. that was how i viewed her too. someone who was going to do

whatever the fuck she wanted, including, apparently, ignoring the judge's orders to stay away from news sources about this trial. (bitch!)

[Catherine Vincent]

29. test

[orleans]

30. test? n/t

[Catherine Vincent]

31. I was testing the time stamp

It seemed off last night.