Judge struggles to seat jury in Elon Musk investor trial amid ‘hate’ for tech billionaire: report
Jury selection for Elon Musk’s investor trial is proving difficult due to widespread negative opinions about the tech billionaire.Summary
A federal judge in San Francisco faced challenges seating a jury for Elon Musk’s upcoming investor class action trial, with many prospective jurors expressing strong negative views towards him. After over five hours of questioning, only nine jurors were selected from a pool of 93, as numerous individuals admitted they couldn’t remain impartial. Judge Charles Breyer acknowledged finding unbiased jurors would be nearly impossible given Musk’s high profile as the leader of X, Tesla, and SpaceX. Several potential jurors were dismissed for reasons including disagreement with the existence of billionaires, disapproval of Musk’s decisions regarding content moderation on X (formerly Twitter), and a perceived moral obligation to convict him if the case were criminal. Despite some positive opinions – one juror called him a “brilliant scientist” – even those expressing favorable views were excused. The trial, set to begin March 2nd, concerns allegations that Musk violated securities law in 2022 during negotiations to buy Twitter, impacting the company’s stock price. Both Musk and former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal are expected to testify during the three-week trial.
(Source：Fox Business)