US judge denies bid by Trump's longtime adviser Roger Stone for new trial
A US federal judge has rejected a motion for a new trial by President Donald Trump’s longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone.
The decision by US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson came on Thursday after Stone, a veteran Republican operative, accused the jury forewoman of political bias.
Stone had claimed Jackson showed bias against Trump which resulted in her not being impartial in deciding Stone’s guilt or innocence during the trial.
“(T)here is zero evidence of ‘explicit bias’ against Stone, and defendant’s attempts to gain a new trial based on implied or inferred bias fail,” Jackson said in an 81-page decision.
“The defendant has not shown that the juror lied; nor has he shown that the supposedly disqualifying evidence could not have been found through the exercise of due diligence at the time the jury was selected,” wrote Jackson.
On February 20, Jackson sentenced Stone to more than three years in prison over charges stemming from investigation into the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
Stone is the sixth Trump aide convicted in a criminal case as part of special prosecutor Robert Mueller's probe into alleged collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.
The penalty from Jackson came over charges that include witness tampering, false statements, and obstruction of justice.
Jackson also ruled that Stone, 67, pay a $20,000 fine, serve two years of probation after his sentence, and perform 250 hours of community service.
Now, with his motion for a new trial denied, Stone is likely to ask an appeals court to throw out his conviction within the next 14 days.
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