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Thursday, April 18, 2024 2:44:57 PM
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Live Updates: Two Jurors Are Dismissed as Selection Continues in Trump Trial
Two of the seven jurors who had already been seated in Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial were excused before lunch. The former president is accused of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal.
Former President Donald J. Trump is charged with 34 felony counts. He is accused of covering up a hush money payment made to a porn
star, in hopes of hiding a sex scandal that threatened to derail his 2016 campaign. Pool photo by Brendan Mcdermid
Ben Protess, Jonah E. Bromwich and Maggie Haberman
Here’s the latest in the case against the former president.
Two jurors who had been selected for Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan were excused from the case on Thursday, demonstrating the continuing challenge of picking a jury to decide the fate of the polarizing former president.
The precise reason for the dismissal of one juror was not immediately clear, but prosecutors had raised concerns about the credibility of answers .. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/18/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial#jurors-dismissed-trump-trial .. he gave to questions about himself. Asked outside the courthouse whether he believed he should have been dismissed, the man, who declined to give his name, replied: “Nope.”
His removal, shortly before the lunch break, followed the dismissal of another juror who said she had developed concerns about her identity becoming public.
Although the judge overseeing the case, Juan M. Merchan, has kept prospective jurors’ names private, some have disclosed their employers and other identifying information .. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/16/nyregion/trump-hush-money-case-anonymous.html .. in court. After excusing the woman at the start of the morning session, Justice Merchan instructed journalists to stop reporting on prospective jurors’ employers.
“I have the legal authority to do it,” the judge said of blocking the news media from reporting the information. Lawyers for news outlets, including The New York Times, were expected to question the order.
The dismissals were the latest twist in the trial, which stems from a hush-money payment made during the 2016 presidential campaign to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, who said she had a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump. He is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up the payment and the scandal, which threatened to derail his campaign.
Mr. Trump has denied having sex with Ms. Daniels or breaking any laws. If the jury convicts him, he faces up to four years behind bars.
A total of seven jurors had been seated on Tuesday. Lawyers on both sides of the case must now replace two of them — and find several more, a process that was continuing Thursday. But more than half of a fresh group of 96 prospective jurors was dismissed almost immediately, including 48 who indicated that they did not believe they could be fair and impartial.
The prosecutors also asked Justice Merchan to hold Mr. Trump in contempt of court after he reposted an attack on prospective jurors on social media, which the district attorney’s office said violated a gag order in the case. The judge said he would deal with the request later this month, when he takes up a related effort to penalize him for attacks on witnesses in the case.
Here’s what else to know about Day 3:
* Prosecutors have quizzed potential jurors on topics including the rule of law, flawed witnesses and whether they believed people could be guilty of crimes that they helped plan but did not carry out. But the defense is heavily focused on a single question: “What is your opinion of President Trump?” The defense team repeatedly questioned prospective jurors over their feelings about the former president. Read our takeaways from the trial’s second day here .. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/18/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial#trump-trial-day-2-takeaways .
* Mr. Trump has often complained that he is treated “unfairly,” by the news media, political opponents and critics, and the prosecutors who have brought charges against him. Now the question of fairness — how people view Mr. Trump’s treatment by prosecutors, and whether prospective jurors can judge him impartially — is at the heart of a laborious process of jury selection .. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/18/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial#trump-jury-selection-fairness .
* Before the prospective jurors can even be queried by the lawyers, they must respond to a series of 42 questions. The inquiries range from the neighborhood they live in and their marital status to the programs they might listen to on talk radio or whether they’ve attended one of Mr. Trump’s rallies. See the full list of questions here .. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/18/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial#trump-hush-money-jury-questions .
* Depending on the speed of jury selection, Justice Merchan has said, opening arguments might begin on Monday.
Nate Schweber contributed reporting.
Kate Christobek
April 18, 2024, 2:20 p.m. ET 21 minutes ago
We are back from the lunch break and the jury selection process is about to start up again.
[...]
Jonah Bromwich
April 18, 2024, 12:17 p.m. ET 2 hours ago
Justice Merchan had said Tuesday that given the rate at which jurors were being seated, opening arguments could begin as soon as Monday morning. It’s not clear that we’re still on track for that to happen.
.Seth Wenig/Associated Press
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/18/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial
Live Updates: Two Jurors Are Dismissed as Selection Continues in Trump Trial
Two of the seven jurors who had already been seated in Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial were excused before lunch. The former president is accused of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal.
Former President Donald J. Trump is charged with 34 felony counts. He is accused of covering up a hush money payment made to a porn
star, in hopes of hiding a sex scandal that threatened to derail his 2016 campaign. Pool photo by Brendan Mcdermid
Ben Protess, Jonah E. Bromwich and Maggie Haberman
Here’s the latest in the case against the former president.
Two jurors who had been selected for Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan were excused from the case on Thursday, demonstrating the continuing challenge of picking a jury to decide the fate of the polarizing former president.
The precise reason for the dismissal of one juror was not immediately clear, but prosecutors had raised concerns about the credibility of answers .. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/18/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial#jurors-dismissed-trump-trial .. he gave to questions about himself. Asked outside the courthouse whether he believed he should have been dismissed, the man, who declined to give his name, replied: “Nope.”
His removal, shortly before the lunch break, followed the dismissal of another juror who said she had developed concerns about her identity becoming public.
Although the judge overseeing the case, Juan M. Merchan, has kept prospective jurors’ names private, some have disclosed their employers and other identifying information .. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/16/nyregion/trump-hush-money-case-anonymous.html .. in court. After excusing the woman at the start of the morning session, Justice Merchan instructed journalists to stop reporting on prospective jurors’ employers.
“I have the legal authority to do it,” the judge said of blocking the news media from reporting the information. Lawyers for news outlets, including The New York Times, were expected to question the order.
The dismissals were the latest twist in the trial, which stems from a hush-money payment made during the 2016 presidential campaign to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, who said she had a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump. He is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up the payment and the scandal, which threatened to derail his campaign.
Mr. Trump has denied having sex with Ms. Daniels or breaking any laws. If the jury convicts him, he faces up to four years behind bars.
A total of seven jurors had been seated on Tuesday. Lawyers on both sides of the case must now replace two of them — and find several more, a process that was continuing Thursday. But more than half of a fresh group of 96 prospective jurors was dismissed almost immediately, including 48 who indicated that they did not believe they could be fair and impartial.
The prosecutors also asked Justice Merchan to hold Mr. Trump in contempt of court after he reposted an attack on prospective jurors on social media, which the district attorney’s office said violated a gag order in the case. The judge said he would deal with the request later this month, when he takes up a related effort to penalize him for attacks on witnesses in the case.
Here’s what else to know about Day 3:
* Prosecutors have quizzed potential jurors on topics including the rule of law, flawed witnesses and whether they believed people could be guilty of crimes that they helped plan but did not carry out. But the defense is heavily focused on a single question: “What is your opinion of President Trump?” The defense team repeatedly questioned prospective jurors over their feelings about the former president. Read our takeaways from the trial’s second day here .. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/18/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial#trump-trial-day-2-takeaways .
* Mr. Trump has often complained that he is treated “unfairly,” by the news media, political opponents and critics, and the prosecutors who have brought charges against him. Now the question of fairness — how people view Mr. Trump’s treatment by prosecutors, and whether prospective jurors can judge him impartially — is at the heart of a laborious process of jury selection .. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/18/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial#trump-jury-selection-fairness .
* Before the prospective jurors can even be queried by the lawyers, they must respond to a series of 42 questions. The inquiries range from the neighborhood they live in and their marital status to the programs they might listen to on talk radio or whether they’ve attended one of Mr. Trump’s rallies. See the full list of questions here .. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/18/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial#trump-hush-money-jury-questions .
* Depending on the speed of jury selection, Justice Merchan has said, opening arguments might begin on Monday.
Nate Schweber contributed reporting.
Kate Christobek
April 18, 2024, 2:20 p.m. ET 21 minutes ago
We are back from the lunch break and the jury selection process is about to start up again.
[...]
Jonah Bromwich
April 18, 2024, 12:17 p.m. ET 2 hours ago
Justice Merchan had said Tuesday that given the rate at which jurors were being seated, opening arguments could begin as soon as Monday morning. It’s not clear that we’re still on track for that to happen.
.Seth Wenig/Associated Press
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/18/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial
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