An attorney for Empire actor Jussie Smollett made a motion for a mistrial Thursday afternoon after the judge slammed her line of questioning about antigay tweets and allegedly tried to attack her.
Defense attorney Tamara Walker said the judge “physically lunged” at her when she suggested in a sidebar that she planned to move for a mistrial.
JUSSIE SMOLLETT ON IG
Associate Judge James Linn denied the motion for a mistrial and denied lunging at her. “When you said the word mistrial on these grounds frankly I was stunned you’d even consider a mistrial based on this,” Linn said. “I marched right back behind my bench.”
Attorney Heather Widell said the judge could also be seen visibly “snarling” in front of the jury. “I’ve noticed snarls multiple times,” Widell said.
“Sometimes words come out like ‘focus’ or ‘collateral’, that’s not part of your consideration, that’s just me communicating with the lawyers,” Linn told the jury, asking him to disregard his comments to them.
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