I was reacting to the “don’t discuss it with anyone” part of the admonishment. Made me think that perhaps some juror had been holding court at the local watering hole. (This jury isn’t sequestered, is it?)
But I think that the motion for curative instructions is the real key. Ellis needed some time to figure out how to get the dog turds off his shoes.
MSNBC covered the full gambit of possibilities, Juror overheard something they shouldn’t, juror talking about the case before deliberation, jury tampering, etc
They said it could be nothing or something big, could result in jurors getting questioned individually by Judge or a mistrial.
Basically no one knows anything just that it’s odd.
but the odor … remains ----
Oh…yeah…judges say that every day and with this case being such a hot politicized one, it’s even more important because the temptation to blabber is so much greater.
TBH, I think we might be on the cusp of a mistrial and the judge recognizes it and is scrambling to save it.
the judge likes to do “pithy”. me, not so much.
I want to believe this is true.
Their defense: Rick Gates did it! Who are they going to call to prove that Gates did everything? They already had their shot at Gates. Are they going to show that Manafort was just a bumbler, relying on Gates to handle everything? Call up some witness that worked for Manafort that hasn’t already been thoroughly interviewed by Mueller’s team to debunk all the documentary evidence?
The question is: What can Manafort give Mueller at this point that will entice him to give Manafort a plea deal? And what protections can Mueller offer Manafort so that he lives long enough to deliver?
If I were writing this story, I’d say that both sides want time to hammer out a deal agreeable to both and Ellis is fuming and not wanting to delay his trial.
But then I thought Hillary would win.
Maybe Manafort has bumbled his way into a previously-unknown class of criminal conduct here, “consipracy to defreud”.
In that case I guess we’ll learn something from which channel the ex-juror chooses to be interviewed on.
With both parties at a sidebar that includes Manafort might indicate more than meets the eye. IQ45 has not pardoned Manafort and is looking at life in prison in this first trial. After spending real time in a real federal lockup who wouldn’t reconsider a small sentence or less to become a federal witness in this special counsel investigation?
To keep the wild, productive speculation going…
Manifort’s numerous monitoring devices, his history of fudging (at least) the legal lines, and his association with Russians we have to ignore for some reason, invites the possibility that Paul or one of his national or international buddies are misbehaving with the jury?
No, I asked what “Consipracy” was, not conspiracy.
They misspelled it
He’s trying to throw the trial, or ruin it in some way. Can’t his peers shame him into behaving in a competent way?
Agreed–Manafort was just another in an extremely long line of coffee boys.
He did have a line on pretty good creamer —
Mistrial? The judge has proven himself to be incompetent.
He’s destroying his own reputation. Such a fundamental and basic mistake on the law (of conspiracy) simply discredits the judge. However it looks like there are multiple problems, not simply a cranky judge who has lost his way.
This is becoming an OJ trial, starring a long lost distant relative of Judge Ito!
I noticed that too. (Conspiracy was misspelled in the title of the prosecution motion).
Not er sharp.
Manafort is comparing mountains.
The Mueller Mountain is a magnificent, towering and craggy peak, comprised of tons of evidence detailing Manafort’s crimin,’ and thus is super difficult for a man of Manafort’s, uh, climbing ability to scale.
On the other hand, the Manafort Mountain is a far less-imposing peak, composed entirely of self-serving bullshit. Mueller and company can bag that peak in no time.
From what I have read absolutely none. Because of the double jeopardy clause if found not guilty Manafort can not be tried again even if the Judge f*cks up.
And I agree with this clause. Otherwise a prosecution who saw that they were losing (and have unlimited resources) would just keep declaring a mistrial until they got the verdict they wanted.