Jury selection for Trump continues

Judge Merchan excuses one juror, dismisses another

By: Aysha Bagchi
Kinsey Crowley
Bart Jansen
and David Jackson
USA Today

Jury selection continued Thursday, [04/18/2024] the third day of former President Donald Trump's trial over whether he falsified business records to hid a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
..... Opening statements can't start until 12 Jurors plus several alternates have been selected. As Thursday [04/18/2024] opened, the case had seven jurors. But right away, judge Juan Merchan excused Juror #2 due to her concerns about her identity becoming public. He directed the media not to report identifying information about jurors.
..... Several hours later, Merchan dismissed Juror # 4 after questions arose about whether the man had responded truthfully to a question about whether he or anyone close to him had been accused of a crime.
..... "He expressed annoyance" at how information about him had gotten out there, the judge added.
..... The prosecution discovered an article stating that a person with the same name had been arrested in the 1990s for tearing down political advertisements, and said it also seemed that his wife was involved in a corruption inquiry that ended with her entering into an agreement with the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
..... The jury quest went on, searching for jurors who thought they could be fair in the first criminal trial of a former or current U.S. president.
..... Mirroring Monday's [04/15/2024] proceedings, about half the next batch of about 96 potential jurors were immediately excused when they said they could not be impartial in the case. Nine said they couldn't serve for other reasons.
..... Then, one by one, the remainder were called to respond to the 42-question jury questionnaire. The questions include whether they have read Trump's books and where they get their news.
..... Turned toward the jury box, Trump appeared to be giving his full attention to each potential juror. Multiple reporters said they had seen him falling asleep on previous days.
..... One potential juror said she had discussed the case with co-workers and participated in the Women's march, a protest after trump was elected. "It's hard to unring the bell," she said, but gave the judge her assurance that she would follow his instructions on the law and base her decision on the evidence introduced in the courtroom.
..... On Wednesday, [04/17/2024] a day off from the trail, Trump met with Poland President Andrzei Duda at Trump Tower. "We're behind Poland all the way,: he told reporters.
..... Unlike previous days, Trump did not comment or take questions before entering the courtroom Thursday. [04/18/2024]
..... Behind the scenes, the legal pieces kept moving in this and Trump's other cases.
..... Trump's legal team asked to delay a May 8 deadline for his Florida criminal case until three weeks after the New York hush-money trial ends because the same lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, are working on both.
..... Trump faces federal charges in Florida that he retained classified national defense records at his Mar-a-Lago resort. His lawyers are required to discuss filings only in a secure facility, which is "virtually impossible" during the New York trial, the lawyers wrote.

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