Lawyers aim to wrap up jury selection in Trump criminal trial
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 [April 19, 2024]
By Luc Cohen, Jack Queen and Andy Sullivan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers in Donald Trump's criminal trial are
expected on Friday to wrap up the painstaking process of selecting a
jury that will for the first time in U.S. history determine whether a
former president is guilty of breaking the law.
With the 12-member jury already chosen, prosecutors and defense lawyers
need to select six alternates for the trial, which is expected to run
through May. Opening statements could start on Monday.
Two jurors have already been removed from the case. On Thursday, Justice
Juan Merchan dismissed one juror who said she felt intimidated after
friends and relatives figured out she had been chosen for the trial.
Another was dismissed after prosecutors questioned whether he had been
truthful about prior run-ins with the law.
Jury selection is often a contentious process, as lawyers on either side
jockey to assemble a panel they hope will be most sympathetic to their
interests.
But it has proven especially challenging in this case, which involves a
controversial former president who is accused of covering up a
hush-money payment to a porn star shortly before he was elected in 2016.
Trump has pleaded not guilty.
It is one of four criminal cases Trump faces but the only one certain to
go to trial ahead of the Nov. 5 election, when the Republican politician
aims to again take on Democratic President Joe Biden. A conviction would
not bar him from office.
Roughly half of the more than 200 potential jurors who were screened
said they would not be able to impartially assess Trump's guilt or
innocence. All were drawn from Manhattan, a heavily Democratic city that
was once Trump's hometown.
Trump has said all four criminal cases are an effort by Biden allies to
undercut his campaign. His criticism of witnesses, prosecutors, the
judge and their relatives in this case and others has also sparked
concerns about harassment, prompting Merchan to impose a partial gag
order.
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump walks out to speak to reporters
at the end of the day at Manhattan criminal court as jury selection
continues in New York, U.S., April 18, 2024. Jabin Botsford/Pool via
REUTERS
Trump has tested the limits of that gag order, posting on Wednesday
that undercover liberal activists had been lying to get on the jury.
Prosecutors have asked Merchan to penalize him.
Merchan has taken steps to shield jurors from harassment, saying
they will remain anonymous except to Trump, his lawyers, and
prosecutors. On Thursday, he said he would prohibit news outlets
from reporting on aspects of potential jurors' employment.
In this case, Trump is accused of covering up a $130,000 payment his
former lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels for her
silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she says
they had a decade earlier.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business
records brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and
denies any such encounter with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie
Clifford.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in his other three criminal cases as
well. Two accuse him of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to
Biden, while another accuses him of mishandling classified
information after he left office.
(Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Daniel
Wallis)
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