NEW YORK �� Fear and fandom led to more dismissals of prospective jurors at the Brooklyn trial of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan started the second day of jury selection with questions about a juror who allegedly asked if he could somehow get Guzman's autograph.
Guzman grinned broadly at the judge's inquiry.
"If the juror's so enamored that he wants an autograph, then I think that's grounds for (dismissal)," a prosecutor said.
"Judge, I have the autographs of Charles Manson and two leaders of Hamas," defense lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman said. "Obviously, I'm not a big fan of them."
When the juror later admitted he sought the autograph because he's "a bit of a fan," Cogan sent him packing.
A female juror was released after saying her mother suggested they might have to go into hiding.
"Her mother said, 'We've got to move and get a new house,'" Cogan said. "There were a lot of tears. She's not concerned for herself but very concerned the pressure on her mother will be injurious for her health."
Another prospective juror had a panic attack and was brought to a hospital.
A young female juror said she got "a little freaked out" after watching a movie about someone trying to kill a juror, and then typed Guzman's name and "kill juror" into a search engine.
The woman said she found an article that quoted Guzman promising not to order any jurors killed.
"Even that statement made me anxious," she said. "I'm just nervous about it."
A Trump supporter was questioned about racial bias.
"You had mentioned that the public person you most admire is Trump?" Lichtman asked.
"Do you have any preconceptions that this defendant might be guilty because he's Mexican?" the judge asked.
"I don't think the President is a racist," the man said.
"You don't think (Guzman) is a bad hombre?" Lichtman asked.
"I really don't know much about him," the man said.
Guzman has pleaded not guilty to 17 counts involving drug trafficking, murder conspiracy and money laundering.
The former farmer who ruthlessly rose through the ranks to run the Sinaloa drug cartel allegedly played a role in at least 30 murders.
He staged two elaborate jailbreaks in Mexico, one involving a subterranean tunnel with a mile-long track for a custom motorbike.
"I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world. I have a fleet of submarines, airplanes, trucks and boats," he told actor Sean Penn in an interview at his hideout in 2015, just months before his capture.
