A potential juror was excused Tuesday after being overheard using profanity to describe the man on trial for allegedly stealing and torturing a flamingo from a Strip resort.

The juror made the remark to another person about Mitchell Fairbarn, 34, who is out of custody on high-level electronic monitoring, while Fairbarn was waiting in the hallway outside the courtroom where his trial was set to begin, District Judge Jacqueline Bluth said.

Bluth dismissed the juror after a bench conference with attorneys.

The man was overheard describing Fairbarn as the “piece of s— that took the flamingo,” Bluth said.

The judge had previously asked the man whether he had seen news coverage about Fairbarn and could remain impartial in deciding a verdict.

“It was all over the news, social media, everywhere,” the man replied. “I cannot be fair in this case.”

Fairbarn, of Ontario, Canada, faces two counts of animal cruelty stemming from a March 3 incident. Prosecutors said he took “Peachy” from its habitat at the Flamingo, brought the bird to his hotel room and tortured it.

Defense attorney Joshua Tomsheck said Fairbarn maintains his innocence.

After hours of questioning, six men and eight women were selected to make up the jury.

Potential jurors shared a range of views about animals. Some said they consider their pets like their children while others reported feelings of indifference.

“I don’t have any (animals),” one said. “I mean I graduated in animal science, so I probably like something with animals.”

Another potential juror said he shoots and eats “anything I’m allowed to.”

Two others reported having experience handling domesticated birds like cockatoos and parakeets, but not a flamingo.

“I’ve admired them and looked at them,” said one woman, later among the final group dismissed from the jury pool.

Contact Akiya Leggio at aleggio@reviewjournal.com.