Donald Trump finds himself at Manhattan Supreme Court today, entrenched in the initial stages of jury selection for his first criminal trial. Up to this point, six people have been chosen to participate as jurors in the trial concerning the former president.
The “hush money” trial commenced on Monday with a meticulous screening process for potential jurors. Approximately 50 people were excused from consideration after expressing doubts about their ability to render impartial judgments.
This marks a historic moment as it is the inaugural instance of a former United States president standing trial on criminal charges.
Trump has formally entered a plea of not guilty to 34 felony charges of tampering with business records, purportedly in an attempt to conceal the payments.
The duration of the trial is estimated to span roughly two months, during which Trump could potentially face a maximum sentence of four years behind bars if found guilty. Given the criminal nature of the proceedings, the former commander-in-chief is obligated to attend court sessions regularly.
Let’s look at the six jurors already chosen for Donald Trump’s hush money trial:
- The foreperson, hailing from West Harlem and of Irish descent, is married and works within the sales domain.
- Another juror, a young African American woman, despite having associates with varied opinions regarding Trump, professes to maintain a non-political stance. She acknowledges Trump’s propensity for outspokenness, which she respects.
- Originating from Oregon, a corporate attorney at Gunderson Dettmer, residing in Chelsea for the past five years, is an avid enthusiast of outdoor activities such as hiking and running.
- A female software engineer, also a resident of Chelsea, adds to the jury’s diversity.
- A 40-year-old resident of the Lower East Side, characterized Trump as “fascinating and mysterious,” reflecting on his ability to polarize opinions merely by his presence. Employed as an IT consultant, he finds Trump’s persona intriguing.
- A female oncology nurse residing on the Upper East Side contributes to the jury’s composition.
Ultimately, twelve jurors, accompanied by a few alternates, will be selected to fulfill their duties in the trial. Jury selection proceeds anew with a fresh cohort of potential jurors to occupy the remaining vacancies.
Meanwhile, Trump was accused by Justice Juan Merchan of intimidating a juror who was called in to clarify the defense’s claims of alleged “anti-Trump” Facebook posts.
The judge told Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche that Trump was uttering something to the juror who was “12 feet away from your client.”
“Your client was audibly uttering something,” the judge said, “I don’t know what he was uttering…”
He then offered a stiff warning: “I won’t tolerate that. I won’t have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. I will be crystal clear.”
The flareup came after Blanche challenged Juror No. 1 for cause because he claimed that the woman had made two Facebook posts on the day of the 2020 presidential election, when “President Trump lost the election.”
The juror had previously said they did not have any biases against Trump, Blanche said.
Another Trump attorney, Susan Necheles, said the post was of a “clearly anti-Trump event.”
“This is clearly an anti-Trump event that she’s out celebrating and partying at,” Necheles said.
{Matzav.com}
