Seven jurors have been selected to serve in the criminal trial of former United States President Donald Trump in New York, marking a fast pace for the process so far.
The second day of the historic trial ended Tuesday with more discussions about jury selection, but despite early indications that the process could stretch for weeks, the day ended with more than a third of the jurors needed to be seated.
Ultimately, 12 jurors and six alternates must be appointed before the court can hear opening arguments in the case. Trump faces 34 criminal charges of falsifying business records related to hush payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels and jurors are expected to weigh the charges against him.
But Tuesday’s proceedings were filled with warnings about the need for fairness, impartiality and decorum in the courtroom — comments aimed both at potential jurors and at Trump himself.
A historic trial
The New York proceedings make Trump the first US president, past or present, to be tried on criminal charges.
The trial results from one of four criminal charges that Trump faces: two at the state level and two at the federal level.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg first announced the New York charges in March 2023. Only on Monday, after months of delays and pretrial proceedings, did the trial begin in earnest.
The prosecution’s case hinges on whether hush money payments to Daniels could be violations of state and federal election laws.
Daniels alleged an affair with Trump, which he denied. Prosecutors hope to argue that the hush money payments were intended to quell bad press during the final days of the 2016 presidential election, which Trump went on to win.
Jury selection began on Monday, with prosecutors, defense lawyers and presiding judge Juan Merchan weighing whether the candidates could be impartial in their assessment of the case.
But the first day of the trial highlighted the challenges of determining who should be chosen. An initial group of 96 jurors appeared in court on Monday, and very quickly, Judge Merchan dismissed more than half of them after they indicated they would have difficulty being impartial with the former president.
Not a single juror, therefore, was seated on Monday. But Tuesday was a different story.
Impartiality issues
All potential jurors in the case were asked to fill out a 42-part questionnaire designed to uncover details about their personal lives, their media consumption and their political leanings.
But to save time, on Tuesday Judge Juan Merchan asked jury candidates to raise concerns about their ability to serve before filling out the questionnaire.
Many – though not all – of those who raised their hands in concern were fired.
Afterward, prosecutors and defense attorneys took turns asking potential jurors about themselves.
Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass also sought to dispel misconceptions about impartiality with his address to the jury.
“Let’s state the obvious: the defendant in this case is both the former president and a candidate for this office. No one is suggesting that you can’t be a fair juror because you’ve heard of Donald Trump,” Steinglass said.
“We don’t expect you to have been living under a rock for the last eight to 30 years.”
But both the prosecution and defense pressed jurors on whether they could keep their political views separate from the ongoing proceedings.
In one case, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche pressed a Manhattan bookseller about his political leanings.
“What I think of President Trump outside this room has nothing to do with what’s going on in this room,” replied the bookseller. He continued: “You are asking me to incorporate my political views into a criminal case.”
Finally, the bookseller offered: “I’m a Democrat, so that’s it.” He ended up being fired.
Social media posts under scrutiny
The judge also allowed Trump’s legal team to question potential jurors about social media posts.
One post, submitted by the defense team, described a dance party in Manhattan where a prospective juror allegedly celebrated Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
“This is clearly an anti-Trump event that she is rallying around and celebrating,” said Susan Necheles, one of Trump’s lawyers.
She and her colleagues tried to show that even candidates who claimed to be impartial had made statements to the contrary on social media.
In another case, a potential juror was asked about a Facebook post he made in 2017 with the message: “Get him out of here and lock him up!”
Judge Merchan quickly dismissed him: “I do not believe I can allow this juror to remain.”
Trump punished in court
Seated at the defense table, Trump was seen reacting to potential jurors, even nodding his head in approval when one candidate admitted to having read his book The Art of the Deal.
But Trump also showed visibly disapproval of some of the potential jurors’ responses, earning a rebuke from Judge Merchan.
While one of the potential jurors was being questioned, Trump reportedly began muttering loudly to his lawyers. After the candidates left the room, Judge Merchan called him over.
“Before we continue, I just want to put something on the record,” Merchan said, speaking directly to Blanche, Trump’s lawyer.
“Mr. Blanche, while the juror was at the podium, your client was audibly uttering something.”
“I don’t know what he was saying, but it was audible and he was gesturing and talking in the direction of the juror. I will not tolerate this. I will not tolerate any juror being intimidated in this courtroom.”
Juror intimidation has always been a concern in the case. In March, Judge Merchan approved a request from prosecutors requesting that the jurors’ names be withheld from the public to protect them from interference or reprisals.
In court, they are identified only by numbers. Prosecutors and the defense team, however, may know the identities of potential jurors.
Seven jurors defined
At the end of the day, seven jurors were selected and sworn in.
They included a man from Ireland who said he likes to do “anything outdoors” and watches MSNBC and Fox News; a woman who works as an oncology nurse and likes to take her dog to the park; and a corporate lawyer who said he doesn’t follow the news closely.
Also part of the group were an IT worker, an English teacher and a software engineer. The seventh juror to be named was another lawyer, father of two, from North Carolina.
As the seven took their seats on the jury, Judge Merchan gave them instructions: “This will be your permanent seat during the trial.”
While jury selection was initially expected to take several weeks, Tuesday’s quick summary of choices indicates that discussions could begin as early as next week. Merchan previously indicated that he expected the trial to last six weeks.
At the end of Tuesday’s proceedings, 96 more potential jurors were brought into the courtroom and prepared for selection that would begin on Wednesday.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
