Roger Stone’s attorneys have filed a motion for dirty judge Amy Berman Jackson to recuse herself from the motion for a new trial based on the fact that the jury was heavily biases. In her sentencing of Stone, Berman sang praises to the jury for acting with integrity and courage. The main problem for Stone is that jackson gets to decide if she needs to step aside. I doubt that she would be willing to do that.
If she refuses to recuse herself and then rules against a new trial, Stone can appeal to another court. Jackson will not be punished for her blatant bias but her reputation will suffer greatly when all the facts come out. Jackson placed a gag order on Stone and his lawyers, the next judge may not be so harsh.
During jury selection, Berman disqualified one juror because she worked on Reagan’s campaign 30 years ago. Yet, she allowed a woman on the jury, whose husband works for the DOJ and participated in the investigation of Stone. Stone was accused of lying about his connection to WikiLeaks, but WikiLeaks denied having contact with Stone.
But no actual evidence was ever produced. Stone’s lawyers then attempted to force the DOJ to produce evidence that Russia hacked the DNC. Jackson denied the motion and thereby violated the US Constitution.
Berman-Jackson said during Stone’s sentencing of more than three years of incarceration:
The dismay and disgust at the attempts by others to defend [Stone’s] actions as just business as usual in our polarized climate should transcend party. The dismay and the disgust with any attempts to interfere with the efforts of prosecutors and members of the judiciary to fulfill their duty should transcend party. Sure, the defense is free to say, ‘So what? Who cares?’
But I’ll say this: Congress cared. The United States Department of Justice and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia that prosecuted the case and is still prosecuting the case cared. The jurors who served with integrity under difficult circumstances cared. The American people care. And I care.
Stone is currently seeking a new trial after it was revealed that the lead juror in the trial against him made social media posts criticizing President Trump and celebrating Stone’s conviction. That juror, Tomeka Hart, was also a former political candidate with a history of activism for the Democratic Party.