Racial Makeup of Jury Pool Upsets Lawmaker
U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. objected repeatedly to the dismissal of prospective jurors in his Cleveland bribery trial and suggested the judge was trying to get an all-white jury.
Traficant raised the race issue after the judge excused a black woman with health problems. Judge Lesley Wells dismissed the veteran Democrat’s complaint and said she wasn’t aware of the racial makeup of the jury pool.
Traficant, 60, who is white, is accused of accepting gifts and favors in exchange for using his political influence, tax falsification and racketeering.
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