The Harvey Weinstein trial was looking for another prospective juror after a would-be juror joked in a tongue-in-cheek comment on Twitter that landed him in hot water with Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James Burke.
The prospective juror could face a 30-day sentence for tweeting out the joke about his possible jury duty.
He asked on Twitter if there was a way to convert his possible jury duty in the Weinstein trial into increased book sales:
“If anyone knows how a person might hypothetically leverage serving on the jury of a high-profile case to promote their new novel…which (NAME REDACTED) called a ‘darkly funny book’ and a ‘witty black comedy,’ DM me please.”
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James Burke was not amused. He told the man that while he would not serve on the Weinstein panel, he could still be called as a potential juror in a different case:
“I am asking you to return to this courtroom on March 10 with an attorney to show cause why you should not be held in contempt.”
The NYDN reports that the would-be juror was handed a printed copy of his tweets about being a possible juror on the Weinstein trial before he was sent out of the courtroom.
The tweets have been deleted.
Complaints in the high profile Weinstein case have already begun from prosecutors who aren’t happy that young white women have been excluded from the selection of jurors.
