A family man of Puerto Rican descent, Herson Cabreras, previously known as Juror Number 4, was impaneled as part of the original seven jurists in former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan. Before the IT professional and political consultant was dismissed from the jury on Thursday, he had caused a media storm over his description of Trump as “fascinating and mysterious.”
Now he has another descriptor to share, calling the presiding Judge Juan Merchan, “a cowardly judge.”
Cabreras expressed his surprise when the judge dismissed him from jury service, telling USA Today:
That surprised me, that really surprised me. I said, ‘Wow, something else is going on here.’ But they decided not to take me, and that’s it. What can I say? So I said, ‘Fine.’
Cabreras felt that he was placed into a “competition” between Judge Merchan, the prosecution, and the defense, saying:
Everybody wants to look good and fair in front of the public, but they don’t act fair.
The commotion surrounding his jury service started when prosecutors brought up a 1991 incident where Cabreras and a companion were accused of removing political campaign signs in Harrison, New York, a suburb of New York City with most signs belonging to Republicans. At the time of his 1991 arrest, Cabreras had been working with staffers of then-New York City Mayor David Dinkins, a Democrat.
Cabreras, a man in his 70s, said that he didn’t remember the 33-year-old incident and was surprised that they had brought it up. He mentioned that he had previously served on civil juries in the region and had never been required to disclose the poster incident, which he believed the prosecution was using as an excuse to remove him from the jury.
Cabreras said:
I didn’t expect they were going to go into my history of 30 years and pull out something I didn’t even remember. I just thought it was an excuse.
Cabreras felt that Judge Merchan should have intervened. saying:
I looked at him, like, ‘Aren’t you going to say something?’ I’m sitting there, I’m the target, and he’s supposed to be judging. And he just let it happen, he didn’t say anything.
The questionnaire given to jurors mandated disclosing past interactions with law enforcement or the criminal justice system.
The incident left Cabreras with doubts about Judge Merchan’s courtroom management and the potential treatment of other jurors. Cabreras called him a “cowardly judge” for allowing the prosecution to bring up details from decades ago.
I feel sorry for the other jurors, because if the way they treated me is any indication of how they’re going to treat other potential jurors, then I feel sorry for them.
Cabreras said that ultimately, “they did me a favor,” adding that while he felt he could be an impartial jurist, his family “was not happy with all this.”
Notably, some leftist internet political pundits celebrated Juror Number 4’s removal on social media. Vocal supporter of President Joe Biden, Majid Padella, also known as Brooklyn Dad Defiant, who received tens of thousands in donations from a Democrat-linked PAC in 2020, posted:
Juror number 4 is talking to Judge Merchan right now, and will probably be let go after answering that he gave ‘deceptive answers,’ and said that he found Trump ‘fascinating and mysterious.’ Get him the f*** outta there.
Juror number 4 is talking to Judge Merchan right now, and will probably be let go after answering that he gave "deceptive answers," and said that he found trump "fascinating and mysterious."
— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) April 18, 2024
Get him the fuck outta there.
Another juror who had been selected on Tuesday was also dismissed on Thursday. In her case, she stated that she no longer believed she could maintain impartiality.
Read More:
And Then There Were Five: Two Previously Empaneled Jurors Excused From Trump’s Manhattan Trial
