Jury selection in Donald Trump ’s hush money case encountered new setbacks Thursday as two previously sworn-in jurors were excused — one for backtracking on whether she could be impartial and fair and the other over concerns that he may not have been truthful about whether he had ever been accused or convicted of a crime.
Here’s the latest:
Quick Read
- Jury Selection Setbacks: Two jurors previously sworn in for Donald Trump’s hush money trial were excused, one due to concerns about impartiality and another for possibly being untruthful about past criminal accusations.
- Additional Jurors Needed: With the excusal of two jurors, the legal teams now need to select 13 more jurors to complete the panel for the trial.
- Prosecutors Request Sanctions: Prosecutors have asked Judge Juan M. Merchan to sanction Trump for violating a gag order by attacking witnesses in social media posts.
- Continued Jury Selection: The questioning of a new wave of potential jurors began, with over half of the 96-person group excused for various reasons including inability to serve impartially.
- Trump’s Plea: Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to payments made to suppress damaging stories during the 2016 campaign.
- Legal Proceedings and Privacy Concerns: The judge reprimanded the press for potentially compromising juror anonymity by reporting detailed personal information and instructed to redact such details from court transcripts.
- Public and Juror Scrutiny: Prospective jurors are providing vaguer employment answers following concerns about privacy and media coverage of their personal details.
The Associated Press has the story:
A second seated juror dismissed by judge from Trump’s hush money trial
Newslooks- NEW YORK (AP) —
Jury selection in Donald Trump ’s hush money case encountered new setbacks Thursday as two previously sworn-in jurors were excused — one for backtracking on whether she could be impartial and fair and the other over concerns that he may not have been truthful about whether he had ever been accused or convicted of a crime.
Seven jurors were sworn in on Tuesday, but with the excusal of two of them, lawyers now need to pick 13 others to serve on the panel that will decide the first-ever criminal case against a former U.S. president.
Prosecutors on Thursday also asked Judge Juan M. Merchan to sanction Trump over seven more social media posts they say violate a gag order that bars Trump from attacking witnesses.
The prosecution on Monday sought a $3,000 fine against Trump over three Truth Social posts.
Questioning of a second wave of prospective jurors began mid-morning. Over half of the group of 96 people was excused after saying they couldn’t serve.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged scheme to bury stories he feared could hurt his 2016 campaign.
The allegations focus on payoffs to two women, porn actor Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said they had extramarital sexual encounters with Trump years earlier, as well as to a Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about a child he alleged Trump had out of wedlock. Trump says none of these supposed sexual encounters occurred.
The case is the first of Trump’s four indictments to reach trial.
QUESTIONING OF POTENTIAL JURORS RESUMES
Legal counsel in Donald Trump’s criminal trial has returned to questioning prospective jurors in the case after Judge Juan M. Merchan dismissed a second previously seated juror.
While multiple seated and prospective jurors are lawyers, another potential jury member has a good deal of experience specifically being a juror.
The longtime Manhattanite said that over the years, she’s been a juror in a criminal trial and a civil insurance fraud case that both reached verdicts. She also served as an alternate juror on a malpractice case that was resolved during deliberations, she said.
The woman, who works as a paralegal, said there was no reason she couldn’t serve as a juror in Trump’s case, too.
MERCHAN DISMISSES A SECOND SEATED JUROR
Judge Juan M. Merchan has removed a second seated juror from Donald Trump’s hush money trial after prosecutors raised concerns that the man may not have been truthful about whether he had ever been accused or convicted of a crime.
The decision came after the judge questioned the jurors alongside lawyers out of earshot of reporters. The judge later said the juror had “expressed annoyance about how much information about him had been out in the public.”
That echoes the concerns of another juror dismissed earlier Thursday. She said family members and friends questioned her about being a juror even though their names are being kept secret.
PROSPECTIVE JURORS GIVING VAGUER ANSWERS TO EMPLOYMENT QUESTIONS
Instead of disclosing where they work, as other potential jurors in Donald Trump’s hush money case had done earlier this week, the latest group gave more generic answers on Thursday.
The shift in demeanor came after Judge Juan M. Merchan scolded the press for reporting identifiable details about the potential jurors, ordering them not to report on questions about their current and former employers and noting the answers would be redacted from court transcripts.
“There’s a reason that this is an anonymous jury,” Merchan had said. “It kind of defeats the purpose of that when so much information is put out there that it is very easy for anyone to identify who the jurors are.”
It wasn’t clear if they were directly instructed to avoid giving specifics about their employers.
The first prospective juror was an attorney who mentioned having attended the Women’s March and reading a book by former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz. Pomerantz previously oversaw the investigation into the allegations at the center of the hush money case, and his book detailed his work on it.
“I’ve discussed the legal merits of this case with many coworkers,” she added. When asked whether she could still be a fair and impartial juror despite that, she let out a deep sigh before responding, “Yes.”
OVER HALF OF LATEST JURY POOL EXCUSED
Fifty-seven out of the second round of 96 potential jurors in Donald Trump’s hush money trial have been excused after saying they can’t serve.
Some 48 people indicated Thursday morning that they could not serve fairly and impartially. An additional nine said they couldn’t serve for some other reason, which they were not asked to state.
SECOND PANEL OF 96 PROSPECTIVE JURORS NOW IN COURT FOR QUESTIONING
The second wave of potential jurors in Donald Trump’s criminal trial is now in court to begin the questioning phase of jury selection.
As with the first big group, the judge will explain the basics of jury service along with the case, then ask for a show of hands from any panelists who don’t believe they can serve fairly and impartially. After, he’ll ask for a similar indication from any who don’t believe they can serve for another reason.
More than half of the 96 potential jurors in the first group were dismissed after they said they couldn’t be fair and impartial.
