Moore on Terra Firma-Citigroup

MOORE ACTION AT TRIAL: Citigroup attorney Ted Wells asked the court to remove a juror from the Terra Firma-Citigroup trial, after seeing her name in the credits of Michael Moore's 2009 movie Capitalism: A Love Story, a documentary about the financial crisis. The excerpt included a scene during which a family was packing up a house that had been foreclosed on by a bank. During the final credits' “special thanks” section, the court paused on the name “Donna Gianell” and highlighted it. Ms. Gianell, a former circus performer and now a “movement therapist,” is a juror in the case. Judge Jed Rakoff took the matter under advisement, brought in the jury, and proceeded with the trial. The juror, whose specific contribution to the film was unclear, was dismissed at day’s end, according to people briefed on the matter. (11/2p)