The lawyers questioned the jury candidates – summoned randomly by lot – about their social media posts, their political stances and their personal lives to decide if they can impartially judge the former president. Among those chosen are a literature professor, an oncology nurse and a lawyer.
If found guilty, Trump, Republican candidate for the November 5 elections, could be sentenced to four years of jail. If the jury does not reach a unanimous verdict, the case would be thrown out.
Still 12 more people must be elected before the first allegations begin in the case in which the former president is accused of falsifying company records to cover up a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign.
On the second day of jury selection, New Yorkers were questioned for hours about their positions on Trump and other issues, and eight were excused after they said they could not be impartial or because they had other commitments. Trump’s lawyers questioned a handful of people about their social media posts, and one person was excused for a 2017 post about Trump that said, “Lock him up!”
Several prospective jurors told the judge they believed they would be able to decide the case fairly, regardless of their feelings about Trump or his policies as president.
Donald Trump’s legal problems
The trial, which began on Monday, puts Trump’s legal problems at the center of the tight election campaign against President Joe Biden. It is the first of four criminal cases against Trump to go to trial, and it could be the only one to produce a verdict before the November election.
Trump watched in the courtroom as his lawyers urged the judge to remove a potential juror for a social media post she made after her 2020 election loss. At one point, Trump spoke loudly and gesticulated as the judge questioned the womanwhich caused the magistrate to reprimand the former president.
“I don’t know what he was saying, but it was audible and he was gesticulating. And she was speaking in the direction of the jury,” said Judge Juan Merchan. “I’m not going to tolerate that. “I will not tolerate intimidation of any juror in this courtroom.”
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass made direct reference to Trump’s notoriety, telling prospective jurors that He wasn’t looking for someone “who has been living ‘under a rock’ for the last eight years.”. They just have to keep an open mind, she said.
“This case has nothing to do with each person’s personal political opinions, It’s not a referendum on Trump’s presidency. nor a competition of who is the most popular or who you are going to vote for in November. We do not care. “This case is about whether this man broke the law,” he asserted.
Trump declared innocent of 34 felony counts of falsifying corporate records to suppress lewd — and, he claims, false — reports about his sex life during the 2016 campaign. Before entering the room, Trump briefly stood in front of a television camera in the hallway and repeated his allegations that the judge is biased against him and that the case is politically motivated.
“This is a trial that should never have happened”, the former president insisted. Once inside, he was seen winking at a court employee and asking “how are you?” him as he walked down the hallway. Later, Trump took his seat in the dock, next to his lawyers.
Source: Ambito
