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Connecticut Supreme Court to hear anonymous jury appeal in Meriden murder retrial.MERIDEN — The chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments for an emergency "public interest" appeal in what could be the state's first-ever anonymous jury for an upcoming trial, slated to start next week.Joseph Stokes, 26, is facing his second trial in New Haven in the murder of Aaron Ormsby in Meriden in 2019.His first trial, in February 2024, ended in a mistrial.Advertisement Article continues below this ad Stokes' attorney, J.Patten Brown, argued in an emergency appeal filed last week that Judge Maria del Pilar Gonzalez created an unprecedented jury-selection process based on unproven allegations of jury tampering.Brown said the anonymous jury order strips away key protections guaranteed by Connecticut's constitution and amounts to judicial overreach.Following Stokes' mistrial in 2024, a second trial was set to begin later that year, but jury selection was scrapped after prosecutors raised concerns Stokes allegedly tampered with the jury during his first trial.Prosecutors allege Stokes provided his father the names of the jury members and his father obtained personal information about a juror and the juror's family using social media platforms, according to the judge's decision allowing an anonymous jury.Advertisement Article continues below this ad Want more New Haven Register?Once the father had enough information, the juror would be threatened, the decision said.It was unclear from the decision whether the alleged threats were ever carried through.No juror from the earlier trial ever reported being approached or pressured, according to the defense appeal.Prosecutors from the New Haven State's Attorney's Office requested the anonymous jury and the judge agreed.Under the order, jurors' names, birth dates and employment information are redacted from materials provided to attorneys.Lawyers are barred from asking questions that could reveal identifying information and cannot share juror details with defendants or investigators.Advertisement Article continues below this ad Brown argued the order guts Connecticut's uniquely broad constitutional right to individual voir dire, the process through which lawyers question prospective jurors to uncover bias.He added that no Connecticut statute, court rule or appellate decision authorizes anonymous juries and that any such change should come from lawmakers, not a trial judge.The Office of the Chief State's Attorney will argue for allowing the anonymous jury to proceed."The claim lacks merit.The trial court's orders permitted individual voir dire during which counsel for the parties could individually question the venirepersons.The orders also enabled counsel for both parties to review all of the redacted information at the clerk’s desk and to lodge peremptory challenges based upon that information," wrote Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Timothy F.Costello from the chief state's attorney's appellate bureau.Advertisement Article continues below this ad Costello added the judge's orders also provided that they were subject to modification as the trial progressed."The defendant’s claim, therefore, may not be ripe for review," Costello said.The state's highest court is to hear arguments on Tuesday.Advertisement Article continues below this ad