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On the docket: ‘This trial begins’
A full jury has been selected for the former president Donald Trump‘s first criminal trial, which starts Monday.
Five alternate jurors were selected and sworn in on Friday (read more about who was selected here). This means that a full jury of twelve members is present, with six alternates just in case. Right Juan Merchan said the trial itself will begin Monday morning with opening statements.
The first few days will go quickly. Merchan has decided to end the court hearing on Monday and Tuesday at 2 p.m. so that Jewish participants can attend Passover services.
Here’s what else happened on Friday:
A tragic event
As the trial arrived for lunch, a man set himself on fire outside the courthouse and burned for some time before police could reach him to extinguish the flames and rush him to hospital. He brought flyers filled with anti-government conspiracy theories, and police identified him as a Florida man. His actions seem to have nothing to do with the case itself.
What can prosecutors ask Trump if he takes the stand?
The court resumed Friday afternoon with what is called a “Sandoval hearing” – a pre-trial meeting to discuss a list of things prosecutors want to ask the suspect if he decides to take the stand.
In this case, the main issues prosecutors want to raise if Trump decides to testify are previous lawsuits that undermine his credibility. They contain:
• Two recent court findings that have vilified Trump E Jean Carrollwho accused him of raping her.
• A recent court ruling that Trump illegally inflated his business assets to get better loan terms led to a nearly half-billion-dollar fine in a recent civil corporate fraud lawsuit.
• Trump’s lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, which was dismissed by the judge in 2022 as ‘frivolous’ and ‘bad faith’.
• A 2016 campaign fundraiser organized by the Donald J Trump Foundation that violated campaign finance law and forced him to pay $2 million for breach of fiduciary duty.
Trump attorney Emil Bove argued that securing the Carroll rulings would “take the salaciousness of the case to another level.” But prosecutors called it “critical, critical” evidence.
Merchan said he would announce what he will allow on Monday.
More botched delays
Trump’s team also tried to force a delay in the trial on Friday by bypassing Merchan and arguing to a state appeals court that he rushed jury selection, depriving Trump of a fair trial.
Several attempts by Trump’s team to get appeals court judges to overrule Merchan have fallen flat in recent weeks. This too was denied Friday afternoon, as was a separate request to try to delay the trial while his lawyers fight to get the trial out of Manhattan, another all but doomed effort.
Merchan told Trump’s lawyers to stop relitigating all of his decisions and insisted they would no longer fight him on decided issues.
“This must come to an end. There comes a time when you accept my statements,” he said. “This trial is about to begin.”
