Roger Stone, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, is appealing his 40-month prison sentence, as well as a federal judge’s decision denying …
Roger Stone, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, is appealing his 40-month prison sentence, as well as a federal judge’s decision denying his request for a new trial.
Stone, who was sentenced to three years and four months in prison for lying to Congress, asked for a new trial based on alleged bias and misconduct of a juror. His attorneys accused the jury forewoman of providing false answers to a questionnaire and not being truthful about her alleged political bias. They also said her social media activity implied bias against the president and, by extension, Stone.
In a lengthy ruling issued earlier this month, U. S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Stone failed to show that the juror had lied. „Moreover, while the social media communications may suggest that the juror has strong opinions about certain people or issues, they do not reveal that she had an opinion about Roger Stone, which is the opinion that matters,“ Jackson wrote.
Stone’s notification of his intent to file an appeal comes amid renewed speculation that the president will pardon him and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his communications with a former Russian ambassador.
