Trump To Face Anonymous Jury In Case Brought On By Rape Accuser

Donald Trump faces a trial in a defamation case brought on by the journalist E. Jean Carroll who has accused him of raping her. Now it has emerged that the former president will face an anonymous jury.

What Happened: U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said the names and other details of the prospective jurors for the trial against Trump that begins on April 25 will be a secret.

The jurors will be transported together and U.S. marshals will be present at the times when they take a break, according to the report.

The Judge said that the anonymity was due to the “unprecedented circumstances in which this trial will take place, including the extensive pretrial publicity and a very strong risk that jurors will fear harassment, unwanted invasions of their privacy, and retaliation.”

Why It Matters: Kaplan rejected Trump and Carroll’s request to hold a single trial this week. Both parties had said that merging Carroll’s lawsuits would be more efficient and avoid juror confusion, reported Reuters separately. 

In January, Trump’s lawyers tried to have one of the cases filed under a New York law that lets adult sex abuse victims sue years after the assault takes place dismissed. 

The lawyers used tactics made by United Kingdom’s Prince Andrew’s lawyers which challenged the constitutionality of the law, which too were rejected by Kaplan.

Meanwhile, the former president faces a possible criminal indictment in another New York case related to the payment of hush money to a former porn star.

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