Noted attorney Alan Dershowitz said on Wednesday that it is possible New York Judge Juan Merchan is not dismissing alternate jurors in order to deal with a holdout that will not convict former President Donald Trump.
Merchan issued instructions to the jury of seven men and five women Wednesday, pointing them to some of the key evidence in the case prior to the panel beginning its deliberations. Dershowitz admitted he was speculating during Wednesday’s episode of “The Dershow” about Merchan’s reason for keeping the alternates available, but said he had seen a judge in an unrelated case make a similar move.
“I admit this is highly, highly speculative, but there… I know a case on this, so that I’m not making it up: The judge said he’s not going to dismiss the alternate jurors until there’s an absolute verdict,” Dershowitz said. “One possible reason for that, again, I want to emphasize that I’m speculating, one possible reason for this might be following, it is quite cynical: Let’s assume that the jurors come back and say, ‘Sorry we’re, uh, we’re deadlocked. We have one juror who just won’t give in. Well, there are eleven of us who think he’s guilty.’ By the way, the jurors don’t say what they think, they just say there’s a deadlock, but if they come back that way, the inference will be that the jury is, that is, is locked eleven to one in favor of conviction.’”
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“So the judge hears from the jurors and the judge hears that they’re eleven to one and then the judge says, ‘Well is that other juror, the twelfth juror, is he negotiating? Is he involved in the conversations?’ And the foreman to the jury says ‘No, he’s refusing, he’s sitting there with his arms folded, saying, ‘Guy’s innocent, sorry, guy’s innocent, I’m not going to listen to you. The guy’s innocent, there’s no case here, the guy’s innocent.’” Dershowitz continued. “If I were on the jury, that’s what I’d be doing, and then the judge has the power, rarely, rarely, exercised, but he has the power, I’ve seen it done, to say ‘Well, if this juror won’t deliberate, then he’s violating his oath, and I’m going to substitute one of the alternate jurors for that juror,’ and then immediately, they come back with a twelve to nothing verdict of conviction.”
Merchan has come under fire for a perceived bias against Trump in the case. He imposed an expanded gag order on April 1 after Trump criticized the judge’s daughter in multiple posts on Truth Social, including one linking to a New York Post report on Loren Merchan’s firm helping Democrats raise $93 million off the former president’s indictment in the business records case.
Merchan also made a $15 donation to Biden’s presidential campaign in 2020 and two $10 donations to Democratic groups via ActBlue, one to a “Stop Republicans” group and another to a “Progressive Turnout Project,” according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records. (RELATED: Andy McCarthy Says He Doesn’t Believe Trump Judge Will Toss Case Because His Daughter Is ‘Progressive Operative’)
“I’m not saying that that’s going to happen, I’m not saying that’s even in the judge’s mind, but knowing this judge and seeing him in action, particularly having seen him in action on the day I was in the court when they cleared everybody but I was allowed to stay, why, I still don’t know, and I saw the real Judge Merchan,” Dershowitz said. “Um, that’s not beyond the realm of possibility, so anything’s possible. This judge wants Donald Trump convicted.”
