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Extracted Text (OCR)
Case 22-1426, Document 79, 06/29/2023, 3536060, Page/7 of 93
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Juror 50 credibly testified at the hearing that he was
able to put aside his experience of sexual abuse and
judge the evidence fairly. This is not the sort of “ex-
treme situation that call[s] for mandatory removal.”
(A.349 (quoting Torres, 128 F.3d at 46)).
More generally, it is entirely appropriate for jurors
to “rely on their common sense and life experiences to
adjudge guilt.” (A.352). These “very human elements
... constitute one of the strengths of our jury system,
and we cannot and should not excommunicate them
from jury deliberations.” (A.353 (quoting United States
ex rel. Owen v. McMann, 435 F.2d 8138, 818 (2d Cir.
1970)). On these facts, “[t]o imply or infer that Juror
50 was biased—simply because he was himself a vic-
tim of sexual abuse in a trial related to sexual abuse
and sex trafficking, and despite his own credible testi-
mony under the penalty of perjury, establishing that
he could be an even-handed and impartial juror—
would be tantamount to concluding that an individual
with a history of sexual abuse can never serve as a fair
and impartial juror in such a trial. That is not the law,
nor should it be.” (A.346-47).
Finally, Maxwell suggests that Judge Nathan
abused her discretion by precluding defense counsel
from questioning Juror 50, and precluding inquiry into
Juror 50’s “statements to journalists.” (Br.70). As to
the former, the manner in which the hearing proceeds
is committed to a district court’s “sound discretion,”
Moten, 582 F.2d at 666, including specifically the “ex-
tent to which the parties may participate in question-
ing the witnesses,” lannielo, 866 F.2d at 544. Judge
Nathan reasonably decided to lead the questioning
DOJ-OGR-00021724
Extracted Information
Dates
Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00021724.jpg |
| File Size | 682.2 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.6% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 1,764 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 20:16:29.990048 |