A jury of 12 New Yorkers has been seated in former President Donald Trump’s historic hush money trial in Manhattan. It comes after two empaneled jurors were dismissed Thursday morning and seven new jurors were chosen by the afternoon.
The jury is made up of seven men and five women.
Now, the court is working to pick up to six alternates. One has been seated so far. Judge Juan Merchan said he is hopeful the process will be finished on Friday.
Here’s what to know to get up to speed:
Seated jurors dismissed:
- One juror was dismissed after expressing concerns that part of her identity was made public by the media. The judge then ruled the media cannot publish jurors’ answers to questions about their current or former employers.
- A second empaneled juror was excused after prosecutors questioned the truthfulness of the answers he gave to questions from attorneys on Tuesday.
Lawyers continue their questioning:
- The day started with a panel of 96 potential jurors. That was narrowed down to 38 after half were quickly dismissed for saying they could not be fair or impartial and another nine were dismissed because of another conflict. An additional prospective juror was dismissed after answering the questionnaire.
- 18 jurors then faced additional questioning from lawyers in the jury box.
- Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass started by asking them if they feel that prosecutors have more to prove “because the defendant is Donald Trump?” He also asked the potential jurors to look at Trump and ensure they can look him in the eye and say “guilty” if their case is proven.
- Trump attorney Susan Necheles asked whether anyone has a problem with the notion that if “two witnesses get on this witness stand and say, under oath, two diametrically opposed things,” that somebody is lying. She also asked one potential juror directly about whether she posted on social media about Trump.
Jurors excused for cause:
- Once lawyers were done with their questioning, each side brought up challenges to get some potential jurors dismissed for cause — and not have to use their peremptory strikes.
- The judge dismissed two potential jurors for cause. One admitted she did not think she could be fair and another had negative social media posts about Trump.
- The judge denied a request to dismiss a potential juror who said she knew Necheles.
- Both the prosecution and the defense used all of their peremptory strikes.
Trump in court: The former president turned his chair and faced the jury box while lawyers asked questions. He craned his neck to look at the jury pool as several prospective jurors said they disagreed with Trump’s policies or generally disliked him.
Tomorrow: Merchan swore in a new panel of potential jurors who will return on Friday when the selection of alternates will continue.
Gag order: Meanwhile, prosecutors say Trump violated his gag order seven more times, pointing to posts online and calling the situation “ridiculous.” The order was issued to stop Trump from making statements about witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff, or the family members of prosecutors and court staff in late March. Merchan will have a hearing about the matter next Tuesday.
