Nearly Half of Jury Pool Dismissed in Elon Musk Trial After Prospective Jurors Openly Admit They ‘Hate’ Him

Nearly half of the potential jurors in a class-action lawsuit against Elon Musk were dismissed during selection after admitting they could not remain impartial, with many outright saying that they “hate” him.

The case, playing out in a liberal stronghold, really displays the biases against conservatives within the judicial system.

Jury selection for the trial began this week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, presided over by Judge Charles R. Breyer.

Mediaite reports:

Breyer, a Clinton appointee and younger brother of former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, began jury selection by commenting to the lawyers for both sides that Musk had achieved a level of fame that was “like the President of the United States,” and even if they “search the entire country,” it would probably be nearly impossible to find someone who did not have some sort of opinion about Musk.

“As a public figure he will excite strong views, and for him in particular, people have strong views,” Breyer added. “The question is, and courts are very clear about this, is whether they can set them aside.”

Finding nine jurors who could put their opinions about Musk aside to be properly fair and impartial took over five hours.

“As a public figure he will excite strong views, and for him in particular, people have strong views,” Breyer said. “The question is, and courts are very clear about this, is whether they can set them aside.”

Out of a pool of 93 prospective jurors, 40 were immediately excused after raising their hands to indicate they could not set aside their personal biases against Musk.

Juror questionnaires also revealed deep-seated animosity.

One potential juror stated he could be impartial in a civil case but would feel a “moral obligation” to convict Musk and send him to prison if it were a criminal trial.

Another disagreed “with the existence of billionaires” altogether.

A woman expressed hatred for Musk’s mass layoffs of Twitter’s content moderators after his acquisition of the platform.

Musk’s attorney, Stephen Broome, remarked during the proceedings that “so many people hate Musk that we’re becoming desensitized.” He added that in typical cases, a questionnaire response indicating hatred would lead to automatic dismissal.

The class-action suit was filed by Twitter investors who allege that Musk violated federal securities laws during his protracted, public indecision about purchasing the company in 2022.

Plaintiffs claim Musk’s actions were a scheme to drive down the share price before he ultimately completed the $44 billion acquisition in October 2022, causing them financial harm.

The trial is expected to last about three weeks, with potential witnesses including Musk himself and former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal.

While many made jokes about the situation, it really does raise the question of whether fair trials are possible for conservative figures in heavily Democratic jurisdictions.

The trial is set to begin on March 2.

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