AND THEN THERE WERE EIGHT

One down, eight to go.

In a bizarre plot twist worthy of a John Grisham novel, a juror with ties to left-leaning filmmaker Michael Moore was ousted from the court battle between Terra Firma’s Guy Hands and Citigroup over the buyout of EMI.

Donna Romo-Gianell, also known as Juror No. 6, was dismissed from the fraud trial late yesterday after lawyers for Citi argued before Judge Jed Rakoff that she harbored an anti-bank bias based on her connection to the filmmaker.

Gianell's name appears in the film credits of Moore's 2009 documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story, which took Wall Street firms, including Citi, to task for their role in the financial crisis.

Citi's lead attorney Ted Wells said he found the connection "scary in the context of this particular case" and asked that Gianell be dismissed.

Judge Jed Rakoff did dismiss Gianell, not for her role in the Moore movie, but because he believed she lied in denying that she talked to other jurors about the case in an elevator during a break in the proceedings.

Citi’s rep Wells felt differently: "Out of nine people, I have one associated with the Michael Moore movie who's taking notes like a person possessed. We started putting in our case and suddenly we're seeing a different person."

Moore told Bloomberg News that he didn't know Gianell, a dancer who also performs at parties and events. He said she may have been hired as an extra for a scene in which he marched into AIG's headquarters with a group bearing balloons and cards.

Judge Rakoff dismissed Gianell despite protests from Terra Firma attorney David Boies, who said Gianell had been the most attentive juror in the complex financial case.

At day’s end, Mr. Rakoff dismissed the jury, but not before urging them to vote by reciting lyrics from the musical Oklahoma!, according to the N.Y. Times.

Closing arguments in the case are set to begin today, and the jury should get the case in this afternoon.