This Friday more substitute jurors will be selected in the secret money trial against former US President Donald Trump in New York, and opening arguments in the case could be presented as early as Monday.
Seven men and five women formed part of the jury Thursday to hear evidence in the first criminal case brought against a former U.S. president.
The jury is made up of two lawyers, six people who work in companies, two who work in the educational field, a health worker and an engineer. None of them have been publicly identified.
Some of the jurors acknowledged to New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan and Trump's defense lawyers that they had expressed negative opinions about the 77-year-old former president in recent years, but all said they could put those opinions aside. and judge the case fairly. Several said they barely follow the news of the day.
An alternate juror was also chosen Thursday, and Merchan said he wants to add five more alternates to hear testimony and be available to replace any jurors who are incapacitated or otherwise need to be replaced.
The alternates would only participate in jury deliberations and help decide the verdict if they end up on the jury as replacements in what could be a six-week trial.
The case broadly involves allegations that Trump, the 45th president of the United States, planned in 2016, just before his successful campaign for the White House, hiding money payments to two women to cover up her claims of alleged extramarital affairs with him.
Prosecutors maintain that Trump sought to continue offering compromising information about his private life to voters just before they voted eight years ago.
Trump, who was president from 2017 to 2021 and is the presumptive Republican presidential candidate in this year's Nov. 5 election, has denied the issues and 34 felony counts in the accusation filed against him a year ago.
If convicted, he could receive a prison sentence of up to four years.
Merchan, prosecutors and Trump's defense attorneys spent hours over three days this week asking potential jurors about their opinions of Trump.
When the twelfth juror was chosen, Merchan declared, “We have our jury.”
The procedure
The judge and lawyers questioned jurors about how they consumed the day's news, where they worked and, specifically, whether they could fairly judge Trump, a New York celebrity and real estate mogul for years before entering politics in 2015. .
Dozens of potential jurors, whose names were pulled from voter registration lists in the heavily Democratic city that voted heavily against Trump in his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, immediately told Merchan they could not render an impartial verdict and were dismissed.
Merchan dismissed some potential jurors who he felt — based on their responses in court or on social media posts denigrating Trump — could not fairly judge the case.
Both prosecutors and Trump's lawyers had 10 peremptory challenges available that they could use to keep candidates they didn't like off the jury.
The challenge limit came into play at the end of jury selection, to Trump's detriment.
When one potential juror was asked how she felt about Trump, she said she had no strong opinions about him, but added, “I don't like his personality, how he presents himself in public.”
The elected member later explained: “I don't like some of my co-workers, but I don't try to sabotage their work.”
Trump's lawyers tried to keep her off the jury, objecting to her selection “for cause,” but Merchan denied their challenge.
At that point, Trump's lawyers no longer had peremptory challenges. The woman is part of the jury, which was sworn in before Merchan.
Although the names of the potential jurors have not been made public to protect their identities and safety, attorneys had a list of them. Trump's support staff pored over the names to see what anti-Trump social media messages they may have posted in recent years.
Trump has often attacked Merchan in his social media posts and called the case “election interference” as he seeks to regain the presidency.
Prosecutors have maintained that Trump has repeatedly violated Merchan's gag order prohibiting him from disparaging key participants in the case, although the judge opted out of the edict.
Merchan has scheduled a hearing next week to hear prosecutors' demands that Trump be found guilty of contempt of court and fined. Trump has denied wrongdoing.
The former president has watched the proceedings from the defendant's table, flanked by his attorneys, taking some notes and occasionally glancing at potential jurors. He appeared to fall asleep at times on Monday and Tuesday before becoming alert again.
He could eventually take the witness stand to defend himself, depending on how he and his attorneys view prosecutors' evidence in the case.
With Trump scheduled to appear in court, this will almost certainly limit his time on the campaign trail as he runs for the second consecutive election cycle against President Joe Biden, a Democrat. On a day off for the trial, Trump heads to North Carolina for a rally Saturday night.
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