Mistrial? Judge alerts Trump lawyers to Facebook comment on conviction from 'juror's cousin'

(The Center Square) – A person who wrote on the New York court's official Facebook page that his cousin was on the jury in former President Donald Trump's hush money case grabbed the judge's attention.

On Friday, Judge Juan Merchan wrote a letter to both Trump's attorneys and prosecutors notifying them of the comment, which was posted under a routine court post on May 29, the day before a jury convicted Trump of 34 felonies.

Facebook user Michael Anderson posted, "My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted 🎉 Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!!."

In the letter, Merchan said he had just learned of the comment.

"Today, the Court became aware of a comment that was posted on the Unified Court System's public Facebook page and which I now bring to your attention," the judge wrote in the brief letter. "The comment, now labeled as one week old, responded to a routine UCS notice, posted on May 29."

Merchan's letter did not clarify whether the person who posted the comment was indeed related to a juror.

Trump posted a comment on his social media platform Truth Social: "MISTRIAL!!!"

Jury misconduct, such as talking about the case outside of court with someone other than jurors, can lead to the verdict being overturned and a mistrial declared.

A New York jury on May 30 convicted Trump of 34 counts of falsifying business records for disguising hush money payments to an adult film actress as legal costs ahead of the 2016 election.

Under New York state law, falsifying business records in the first degree is a Class E felony punishable by a maximum of four years in prison.

Merchan set sentencing for 10 a.m. July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, is scheduled for July 15-18, when Trump will likely be picked as the party's nominee for president.