On Wednesday afternoon, the court in the Eastern District of Virginia unsealed the bench conferences between Judge T.S. Ellis III and counsel in the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. The formerly sealed discussions show that there was some concern over members of the jury commenting on the case among themselves.
Ellis at the beginning and end of every day, reminded the jury to not discuss the case with anyone, even among themselves, or to take up any investigation into the case. Yet on Aug. 10, at the end of the second week of the trial, Court security officer Flood brought to Judge Ellis’ attention that one juror had voiced concern about comments made in the jury room, when another juror characterized the defense as “weak.”
At the consent of counsel, Ellis questioned the juror who brought up her concern. She told Ellis, “My understanding was that she had essentially made up her mind regarding the case based on the information presented to her thus far.” She added that the juror said to her that the defense “couldn’t have much to present.”
Although the juror felt that no one was taking political sides, she said that she felt that her fellow jurors were “talking just too much about the case.” Though she recalled that one juror had criticized the defense as “weak,” she could not specifically identify the juror to the judge when asked.
Ellis then pulled aside the juror who had been identified as having made the remarks. When asked if she felt she had an open mind about the case, and whether she made such statements she said, “What I meant was that it would be really hard to have to defend against that.”
The court offered to individually approach each member of the jury about possible statements, but Ellis was reluctant to do so, saying, “A special counsel’s investigation of the jury’s behavior in terms of making comments — I don’t think that’s really necessary or appropriate.”
Even though the court was skeptical, on Aug. 14. Judge Ellis individually questioned each juror. He asked each the same set of questions: whether or not they had made up their minds and whether or not they had heard their fellow jurors comment on the evidence. All responded that they were able to keep an open mind, and that they had not heard anyone else opine on the matter.
The next day, Ellis decided not to remove any of the jurors who might have made such comments and excused the four alternate jurors on the panel.
After a few days of discussion, Manafort’s attorney, Kevin Downing, formally moved for a mistrial during a bench conference in the case on Aug. 20. Ellis asked Downing if he had ever been a part of a trial with this many people and this much media presence. Downing responded that he had. Ellis retorted, “No, you haven’t. This is unique in American history.”
Ellis denied the defense motion for a mistrial, saying that there was “no earthly reason” to permit one.
The jurors’ identities remain under seal, and their numbers and their names were redacted in the filings.
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