Roger Stone's jury selection got off to a dramatic start

(Image credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)

published 5 November 2019

Jury selection for the trial of Roger Stone started with a bang on Tuesday.

Stone is one of President Trump's longtime friends and served as an adviser during the 2016 presidential election. He was arrested in January, charged with lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice. His case is one of several to come out of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in 2016.

The trial is expected to last around three weeks, and 80 potential jurors showed up to the Washington, D.C., federal district court on Tuesday. Not long after the first person started answering juror questions, Stone got up and left the room, revealing upon his return that he was suffering from food poisoning, NBC News reports. Shortly after that, a spectator was heard moaning and collapsed. This person was removed from the courtroom on a stretcher. Stone also left early, with the judge telling him she hoped he felt better on Wednesday.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.