In
Miles Guo
Trial Juror
Googled
William Je
Then Removed
in Sealed
Proceeding
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
July 12 – After a circus-like
civil case involving Guo
Wengui in the U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York, which
Inner City Press closely
covered, here,
March 15, 2023 saw the
unsealing of a twelve-count
Indictment of Miles Guo
onvarious wire fraud,
securities fraud, bank fraud,
and money laundering charges.
On May 22, Inner
City Press live tweeted jury
selection, here.
Many
were excused from the jury
pool.
More detail /
some analysis on X for
Subscribers here
& Substack here
At the end of May
23, Judge Torres told the
remaining jurors that the
trial would start Friday. Thread.
More details on X
for Subscribers here
and Substack here
And it did. Inner
City Press live tweeted the
opening and first two
witnesses, an FBI agent about
the Greenwich search, and a
Dallas based Lamborghini
dealer, thread here.
Jump cut to June
24, when in an order on
reconsideration it was ordered
that "Guo’s motion to
permit the testimony of Paul
Doran, his expert on the
Chinese Communist Party
(“CCP”), is GRANTED only as to
Doran’s testimony on (1) the
CCP’s opposition to specific
political causes for which Guo
has publicly advocated; and
(2) the “secret, extra-legal
Chinese police station”
identified in New York City,
and is otherwise DENIED"- full
17 page order on Patreon here.
On July 1, when
the trial did not meet, Guo's
lawyer wrote in that "the
defense reiterates that it
does not intend to argue to
the jury that the prosecution
team in this case or the U.S.
Attorney’s Office in general
are acting as agents of a
foreign power. But that is
entirely different from
arguing that the Chinese
Communist Party is seeking to
silence Mr. Guo through a
number of different methods,
including by forcing investors
to complain falsely to U.S.
courts and regulators about
Mr. Guo’s conduct" - full 8
page letter on Patreon here.
On July 2, after
the government completed its
case and rested, the defense
put on the stand a valuation
expert - and then Maggie Sklar
as a crypto expert, previously
with the Federal Reserve Bank
of Chicago, charging $1450 an
hour.
On July 3, as the
defense put on its Fox Hunt
expert, Paul Doran, questions
were asked about Broidy and,
yes, the expensive mattresses
(and COVID masks), thread
On July 8 the
defense put on a real estate
helper who accompanied Guo to
a property in Arizona and then
Mahwah, thread
On July 11,
defense summation and US
rebuttal - then a jury note at
5 pm. From the thread.
On July 12, a
juror disclosed they had
Google William Je, then things
went sealed - thread below,
and inside knowledge on X for
Subscribers here
and Substack here
Thread:
ALERT: In US v.
Miles Guo, Judge Analisa
Torres just emerged to say
that a juror disclosed they
Googled co-defendant William
Je - lawyers stared down.
Expect mistrial request - and
push back. Inner City Press
will live tweet, thread
below Judge Torres: One
of the jurors disclosed that
they had Google William Je
this morning. [Guo's lawyers
are standing and talking to
each other; prosecutors stare
down at the note] Judge
Torres: The most recent case
we have found about replacing
a juror is US v. David Delva,
858 F. 3d 135
Guo's lead
lawyer: We dealt with this in
US v. Schulte [his co-counsel
was his opponent - see the
Schulte book, Brutal Kangaroo
Guo's
lawyer: Can we just have a
couple of minutes? Judge:
Couple of minutes [Here's the
case Judge Torres just cited
see esp. Juror No. 7 was
replaced with an alternate and
the reconstituted jury was
instructed to begin
deliberations anew
https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-delva-8
Guo's lawyer: We want
questioning of the foreperson,
ask which juror made the
disclosure - and we want it
not in the witness box, but in
the robing room [that is,
sealed] AUSA: We agree - see
634 F3d 127, there does not
seem to be any taint
Judge Torres: Another note,
11:16 am, we the jury per last
note, we have stopped
deliberations pending
instructions. Should we
continue to pause? Or should
we resume? Judge: I'd like to
call the foreperson into the
robing room [And,
without opportunity for the
Press to object - as in the
cited Schulte case both Judges
Pauley and Furman allowed -
the matter goes behind closed
doors, without even a pool
reporter present.
[11:42 am,
Judge, lawyers and foreperson
are still in the robing room,
sealed.
At 11:50
am, they're back from the
robing room. Judge Torres:
Please have the jurors brought
in.
Jury entering!
Judge Torres: Members of the
jury, you must cease your
deliberations until I tell you
that you can begin again. I
hope to be doing that
shortly. Judge: Is there
a request that any item be
removed from the jury room?
Guo's lawyer: Only if the
juror we have removed made
notes on any documents. Judge:
I'll have my staff review the
materials. If there are no
notes, shall the items be
returned to the jury
room? Judge: I'll let
you know when the alternate
arrives.
[Judge leaves;
Guo is led back into the
holding cell to wait]
The case is US v.
Guo, et al., 23-cr-118
(Torres)
***
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