Musk Trial Opens With Jurors Struggling to Set Aside Strong Opinions

Compiled by the editorial desk with reference to court reporting from Courthouse News and public statements from the trial.

San Francisco — When Elon Musk walks into a federal courtroom on March 2 to face allegations that he manipulated Twitter's stock price, the first battle will already have been fought: finding jurors who can judge him solely on the evidence, not on their feelings about the billionaire. According to Courthouse News, that task has proven so difficult that more than a third of the initial jury pool was dismissed for admitting they could not be impartial.

Judge Charles R. Breyer, who oversees the case, spent considerable time addressing the challenge with the more than 90 prospective jurors. He asked them directly whether they could set aside their opinions on Musk, Twitter, or Tesla, and judge the case strictly on the evidence and the law as he instructs. The judge's careful phrasing, as quoted by the outlet, underscored the tension: 'Whatever your opinion is on Mr. Musk, Twitter or Tesla, can you set it aside in the sense that you will judge the defendant based solely, emphasize solely, on the evidence produced in this trial and the law as I give it to you?'

A particular flashpoint was Musk's close association with the Trump administration. Musk donated nearly $300 million to Trump's presidential campaign and led the administration's cost-cutting initiative through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a project Musk championed. Judge Breyer reminded the pool that the courtroom is not the place to express views on the presidency, and that such opinions should not influence their verdict.

Despite these instructions, over a third of the prospective jurors were dismissed after saying they could not be impartial. Some who remained admitted to holding strongly negative views of Musk but insisted they could still be fair. This prompted an objection from Musk's attorney, Stephen Broome, who argued that in any other case, a juror who said 'I hate that guy and he has no moral compass' would be struck from the panel.

Judge Breyer rejected that comparison, noting that Musk is a public figure who naturally excites strong opinions. 'He is a public figure, and as a public figure, he will excite views, strong views,' the judge said. 'The question is whether or not they can set them aside.' The judge's stance reflects a broader legal principle: jurors are allowed to have personal opinions, as long as they can decide the case based on the evidence presented.

Allegations of Stock Manipulation

The trial, scheduled to run through March 16, centers on accusations that Musk manipulated Twitter's stock price while closing a $44 billion deal to acquire the social media platform, later renamed X and now folded into SpaceX. Plaintiffs argue that Musk made deliberately misleading statements about the platform in May 2022, when he tweeted that the deal was 'on hold' pending calculations about spam and fake accounts, suggesting the percentage of such accounts might exceed five percent. Twitter's share price dropped nine percent the following day.

Days later, Musk claimed that bots and spam accounts made up as much as 20 percent of Twitter's user base and demanded proof that it was less than the initial five percent. Critics at the time saw this as an attempt to back out of the deal or to drive down the stock price to renegotiate at a lower cost. Musk himself acknowledged that renegotiating at a lower price was not 'out of the question.'

The trial will proceed with nine jurors and no alternates, according to Courthouse News. As the proceedings begin, the court's handling of jury bias will be closely watched, given the high-profile nature of the defendant and the politically charged atmosphere surrounding his public persona.