By Luc Cohen, Jack Queen and Andy Sullivan
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Lawyers in Donald TrumpThe criminal trial Friday is expected to conclude the arduous process of selecting a jury that will determine for the first time in American history whether a former president is guilty of breaking the law.
With the 12-member jury already selected, prosecutors and defense attorneys must select six alternates for the trial, which is expected to last through May. Opening statements could begin Monday.
Two jurors have already been removed from the case. On Thursday, Judge Juan Merchan dismissed a juror who said she felt intimidated after friends and family members found out she had been chosen for the trial. Another was fired after prosecutors questioned whether he had been honest about previous run-ins with the law.
Jury selection is often a contentious process, as attorneys on both sides attempt to assemble a panel they hope will be most sympathetic to their interests.
But it has proven particularly challenging in this case, which involves a controversial former president accused of covering up a hush money payment to a porn star shortly before he was elected in 2016. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
It is one of four criminal cases that Trump faces, but the only one that will certainly appear in court in the run-up to the November 5 elections, when the Republican politician wants to compete again with the Democratic President. Joe Biden. A conviction would not remove him from office.
About half of the more than 200 potential jurors screened said they would not be able to impartially judge Trump’s guilt or innocence. They were all from Manhattan, a heavily Democratic city that was once Trump’s birthplace.
Trump has said all four criminal cases are an attempt by Biden allies to undermine his campaign. His criticism of witnesses, prosecutors, the judge and their family members in this and other cases has also raised concerns about harassment, prompting Merchan to impose a partial gag order.
Trump tested the limits of that silence order by posting Wednesday that undercover liberal activists had lied to get on the jury. Prosecutors have asked Merchan to punish him.
Merchan has taken steps to protect jurors from intimidation, saying they will remain anonymous except to Trump, his lawyers and prosecutors. On Thursday, he said he would ban news media from reporting on aspects of potential jurors’ employment.
In this case, Trump is accused of covering up a $130,000 payment his former lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels over her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she had a decade earlier.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 charges of falsifying corporate records filed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and denies any such meeting with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
Trump has also pleaded not guilty in his other three criminal cases. Two accuse him of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, while another accuses him of mishandling classified information after leaving office.
(Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Daniel Wallis)
