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Extracted Text (OCR)
Case 22-1426, Document 79, 06/29/2023, 3536060, Page/76 of 93
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reviewing thirteen days of evidence that persuaded
twelve jurors of the Defendant’s guilt.” (A.352). Actual
and inferred bias are both committed to the province
of the trial judge, and Judge Nathan’s findings that
neither existed were not clearly erroneous. See Torres,
128 F.3d at 44 (“[A] finding of actual bias is based upon
determinations of demeanor and credibility that are
peculiarly within a trial judge’s province.”); United
States v. Greer, 285 F.3d 158, 172 (2d Cir. 2002) (“[A]
finding of inferred bias is, by definition, within the dis-
cretion of the trial court.”).
Maxwell also argues that Judge Nathan should
have implied bias, highlighting some similarities be-
tween Juror 50’s sexual abuse and the sexual abuse
discussed at trial. (Br.67). That falls far short of re-
quiring the District Court to imply bias. First, as
Judge Nathan explained, the law is not that “bias must
be implied when a juror has a personal experience sim-
ilar to the issues at trial.” (A.349). Rather, this Court
has “consistently refused to create a set of unreasona-
bly constricting presumptions that jurors be excused
for cause due to certain occupational or other special
relationships which might bear directly or indirectly
on the circumstances of a given case.” (A.349 (quoting
Torres, 128 F.3d at 46)). This case is not within one of
the rare, extreme circumstances where a mandatory
presumption of bias applies. See, e.g., Torres, 128 F.3d
at 45; Greer, 285 F.3d at 172. Second, although there
are some similarities between Juror 50’s childhood
sexual abuse, there are also differences: Juror 50 was
younger than the trial victims at the time of their
abuse, he was abused by a family member, and he dis-
closed his abuse much earlier. (A.350). And critically,
DOJ-OGR-00021723
Extracted Information
Dates
Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00021723.jpg |
| File Size | 701.0 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.8% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 1,851 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 20:16:27.243536 |