(Newser)
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Monday brought a surprise development in the Sean Combs trial: The judge dismissed a juror because of "concerns about his candor," reports NBC News. Attorneys for the hip-hop mogul opposed the move because they say the newly constituted jury might be a disadvantage to their client: The dismissed juror is a Black man who will be replaced by a white man, per the New York Times.
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The controversy stems from where the man lives. When the jury was being seated, he told the court he resided in the Bronx. But after he mentioned to a court employee last week that he had just moved in with his girlfriend in New Jersey, prosecutors raised the issue with Judge Arun Subramanian. The judge opted to remove him, saying the deception suggested the man was "shading answers" in order to get on the jury. He had been one of two Black men seated on the panel.
(Read more Sean Combs stories.)