You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
Some news reports have included details about jurors that had been aired in open court. One was excused after she developed concerns about being identified.
The judge in former President Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial ordered reporters to not disclose employment information about potential jurors after he excused a woman who said she was worried about her identity becoming known.
The woman, who had been seated on the jury on Tuesday, told the judge that her friends and colleagues had warned her that she had been identified as a juror in the high-profile case. Although the judge has kept prospective jurors’ names private, some have disclosed their employers and other identifying information in court.
She also said that she did not believe she could be impartial.
The judge, Juan M. Merchan, promptly dismissed her.
Moments later, Justice Merchan ordered the press to not report the answer to two queries on a lengthy questionnaire for prospective jurors: “Who is your current employer?” and “Who was your prior employer?”
The judge conceded that the information about employers was necessary for lawyers to know. But he directed that those two answers be redacted from the transcript.
Justice Merchan also said that he was concerned about news outlets publishing physical descriptions of prospective or seated jurors, asking reporters to “simply apply common sense.”
