Judge Warns Attorneys to Stay on Topic on Eve of Roger Stone's Trial
Judge Amy Berman Jackson reiterated that she has already blocked certain topics from coming up during trial.
November 04, 2019 at 01:08 PM
5 minute read
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District of Columbia has a clear message ahead of Roger Stone's trial this week: Stick to the subject.
During a final pretrial conference Monday, Jackson told attorneys for both the Justice Department and Stone that they need to remain focused on the allegations in the case once the trial starts. Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday.
"We're going to follow the rules," she said from the bench. She said that if an attorney started discussing an area that wasn't covered by the trial, she would "politely" call them up to the bench.
"If you continue to disobey orders, I'm not going to give you the courtesy of coming to the bench," Jackson said, adding, "there's plenty to try within the confines of those boundaries."
The judge noted that she has already ruled on blocking certain topics from coming up during trial, which she reiterated throughout the hearing. Jackson has previously struck down efforts from Stone's legal team to include evidence relating to Russian hacking during the 2016 election.
Stone is charged with making false statements to Congress and witness tampering. He has pleaded not guilty.
Ahead of the start of Stone's trial Tuesday, Jackson made most of her final rulings on what evidence will be admitted.
She ruled against some pieces of evidence that Stone's lawyers wanted to admit, like emails between Stone and Randy Credico, an expected witness. She did rule in favor of emails showing that Stone and Credico were in talks for Stone to appear on Credico's radio show.
Jackson put off a ruling on whether to admit a portion of the House Intelligence Committee's minority report on Russian election interference. While she did allow for the section of the report regarding Stone to be admitted, she questioned the relevance of other portions, like those on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
Bruce Rogow, Stone's attorney, argued those sections showed the scope of the House investigation. He said the perception around any efforts to reach WikiLeaks, as Stone did, had "morphed" into the idea that the person had done something wrong or illegal.
Jackson, seeming a bit frustrated, said again that Stone wasn't charged with contacting WikiLeaks but with lying about those attempted contacts.
"You're the one who keeps putting Russian interference in play," she said.
Attorneys also discussed the kinds of questions that can be put to witnesses. Jackson raised a motion filed by government lawyers that sought to limit the scope of questioning for one witness, likely former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.
Jackson noted that the motion was filed under seal, but that she had seen reports naming the witness. A person familiar with Bannon's expected appearance during the trial confirmed late last month that Bannon would be a government witness.
The judge said DOJ lawyers had asked to keep questions related to the person's time on the Trump campaign, as privilege issues could be raised about the person's work on the Trump transition team or at the White House.
Rogow confirmed that Stone's team did not plan to pursue those topics, but that they might raise questions about the person's testimony if it conflicted with other recent comments about the same topic.
The judge said she expected jury selection to finish Tuesday, but that she did not expect lawyers to make opening statements until Wednesday. If jury selection took more than a day, Jackson said, opening statements would take place after that ends Wednesday.
The lawyers also smoothed out final logistics with the judge for the trial. At one point, Rogow asked if Jackson could speak more closely into the microphone, as he was having trouble hearing her.
"No one's ever told me that they can't hear me before," Jackson said. "That's a new piece of information, and I will do that, best I can."
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