Stone’s lawyer may want to consider a pretrial motion alleging an intentional effort by the government to taint the jury pool by leaking news of the arrest to CNN so that the arrest could be publicized. Because this is a matter of national and even international interest, the filming of the arrest was so widely disseminated that it may not be possible to pick an untainted jury pool. If the court grants an evidentiary hearing on the motion, Stone’s lawyer can subpoena the “journalist” from CNN to explain how she came into possession of a sealed indictment, and what “hunch” led her to park outside Stone’s home more than an hour before the FBI arrived. While the court will instruct the jury that an arrest and an indictment are not evidence of guilt and should not be considered for any reason, the fact that the government sent 29 armed agents to arrest Stone, and orchestrated the arrest in coordination with CNN may persuade the court that the jury pool has been tainted by government misconduct. If the court concludes that a fair jury cannot be seated, it has the discretion to dismiss the indictment with prejudice.
The reporter on scene from CNN was a former employee of the FBI.
Now throw that into the mix.