Earlier this week, Judge Arun Subramanian was monitoring a potential issue with Juror #6, and it was revealed Friday that the matter is over where the juror lives — but Subramanian said there was no issue with his qualifications to serve.
“There was a question really of just residence,” Subramanian said Friday before the day’s testimony began.
The juror is a 41-year-old Bronx man who works in a correctional facility. The judge said the juror made an offhand remark during a casual conversation indicating that his family had moved to New Jersey in recent weeks.
“The juror has said multiple things that cannot all be true,” prosecutor Mitzi Steiner said.
The defense said the juror’s remarks were “innocuous” statements.
“These were harmless, non-deceitful responses of a juror unfamiliar with courtroom conditions,” defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said.
The judge appeared to agree.
“There’s maybe an inkling of something, but not much more than that,” Subramanian said.
The judge shot down the defense assertion that prosecutors were making a “thinly-veiled attempt to remove a black juror” from the panel.
“There is absolutely no basis for that suggestion. Absolutely zero,” Subramanian said. “From the outset of this proceeding to the current date, there has been no showing of any kind of biased conduct or manner of proceedings from the government.”
The judge did not immediately decide to do anything. He said it’s possible he may ask the juror to stay after court to ask him some questions.