Former US President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom of the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, USA, on Thursday, April 18, 2024.
Jeenah Moon | Reuters
A full jury of 12 people was seated Thursday in the New York hush money trial of former President Donald Trump.
A deputy was also selected. Five deputies still need to be selected for the case when proceedings resume Friday morning.
Opening statements in the trial could begin on Monday.
“I am confident we will finish tomorrow,” Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan said Thursday afternoon.
Trump criticized the case after the court adjourned.
“The whole world is watching this New York scam,” Trump said.
He left the courtroom with a stack of papers containing dozens of news articles that were critical or skeptical of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case. Trump spent minutes flipping through the newspapers and reading headlines.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee complained that he is forced to spend hours a day in court, preventing him from campaigning against President Joe Biden.
He even railed against the courtroom itself, saying he was “stuck in this freezing room, freezing.”
Former US President Donald Trump holds newspaper clippings during his trial in Manhattan State Court in New York on charges that he falsified business records to hide money he paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 York City, USA, on April 18, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Earlier in the day, Merchan dismissed two jurors who had originally been in office on Tuesday.
The first juror had expressed concerns about her identity being made public and her ability to be impartial. The second juror was excused after prosecutors questioned whether he was truthful in his answer about his criminal history.
The dismissal of the two jurors appeared to jeopardize the rapid pace of jury selection, which appeared to be on track to be completed a week earlier than some legal experts expected. But those spots and the rest of the 12-member panel were filled Thursday afternoon.
The 13 jurors and alternates selected Tuesday and Thursday were selected from a pool of 192 people.
Earlier Thursday, prosecutors accused Trump on social media seven more times of violating his confidentiality in the case. The gag order prohibits him from making certain statements about jurors and witnesses, as well as the judge’s family members and Trump’s prosecutors.
“It’s ridiculous, it has to stop,” Assistant District Attorney Chris Conroy told Merchan.
Conroy said Trump’s “most disturbing post” reflected a claim by Fox News host Jesse Watters that potential jurors included “undercover liberal activists who are lying to the judge.”
In this courtroom sketch, former President Donald Trump, far right, turns and looks at potential jurors who raised their hands and asked to be released from the Manhattan Criminal Court jury on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in New York.
Elizabeth Williams | Via Reuters
Conroy said prosecutors would decide later what sanctions they would seek against Trump. A hearing on Trump’s alleged gag order violations is scheduled for next week.
The dismissed juror said she received several calls Wednesday from people asking if she had been selected. Watters listed a number of details about the juror in a broadcast Tuesday night, including her marital status and news diet, and said, “I’m not so sure about her.”
That juror told Merchan on Thursday morning, “I don’t think I can be fair and impartial and not let outside influences influence me in the courtroom.”
The judge apologized and immediately excused her from the hearing. He cautioned journalists covering the trial to “use common sense” and not publish identifying information about jurors who are supposed to remain anonymous.
Merchan also instructed the press not to publish answers to a question in the jury’s questionnaire about previous and current employers.
The parties were tasked Thursday with interviewing a group of 96 potential jurors to fill the remaining seats on the jury. But half of that group were quickly excused after signaling to Merchan that they could not be fair and impartial.
Among the remaining potential jurors, one person who said he was born and raised in Italy was dismissed after comparing Trump to the late former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Berlusconi, who died last June, was a scandal-plagued billionaire who was convicted of tax fraud in 2012.
Trump is accused of falsifying business records to silence porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, seated far left, with Judge Juan Merchan presiding, watches as members of the jury answer questions from the jury questionnaire in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in New York.
Elizabeth Williams | Via Reuters
Trump must sit in court throughout the trial, which takes place every day of the week except Wednesday and is expected to last about six weeks.
Trump described the process as a political “witch hunt” and complained that it was keeping him away from the election campaign.
Read more about Trump’s hush money trial
But Trump has also used the media frenzy surrounding his trial — and his three other pending criminal cases — as an opportunity to spread campaign messages and attack his political opponents. On Tuesday afternoon, Trump accused Judge Juan Merchan of “rushing” the trial.
He then traveled to a campaign stop at a north Harlem bodega to point out that Bragg is failing to stop crime in New York City because he is focused on the trial.
On Wednesday, Trump complained that his legal team wasn’t given “nearly enough” opportunities to challenge potential jurors. In fact, he received exactly the number of strikes allowed under New York law.
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2024-04-18 21:28:41
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