The grueling process to find five more impartial Trump jurors: Inside the ... trends now
Prosecutor Josh Steinglass asked each of the 18 prospective jurors in front of him to look across at Donald Trump and then take a long look inside themselves and decide whether they were up to the job of deciding guilt or innocence.
'You have to be able to come back from your deliberations and look the defendant in the eye and say "guilty.'
'And only you can know that.'
The defendant knew exactly where to look. He wrenched his body around to the right facing them, and delivered a penetrating glare as each in turn answered 'yes.'
It made for a dramatic moment on day two of Trump's hush money trial. The former president went eye-to-eye with some of the Manhattan men and women who will deliver one of the most important verdicts in history.
Cameras are not allowed in court 1530 so sketch artists provide images of the action. Former President Donald Trump is seen here with his lawyers Todd Blanche (left) and Emil Bove (right)
The laborious process highlights the challenge of finding people who can deliver a verdict on a highly polarizing defendant without bias.
As they quizzed the panel of 18 possibles, prosecutors wanted to know that each of them were capable of delivering a guilty verdict without adding extra hurdles to protect the most famous man in the country, a man who claims to be the victim of a political witch hunt.
The defense wanted to know what the 18—New York Times readers almost to a man and woman—thought of their client. They only need one to decide
Not that many wanted to share their views.
Juror B113, a Manhattan bookseller with short gray hair in his 50s or 60s and who said he listened to NPR in the shower, said it had no bearing on the case.
'That is a separate thing,' he said, in the sort of tone that said he wasn't here to debate who won the 2020 election.
Defense lead Todd Blanche smelled a rat. Imagine, we were sitting at a bar, he said, would you tell me your views then?
'If we were at a bar, I would,' he said, raising laughter around the court.
Blanche had to smile but prospective juror B113 pressed on.
Judge Juan Merchan moved quickly through prospective candidates and managed to get more than half way to filling a panel of 12 by the end of Tuesday. The court does not sit Wednesday
'I'll say I'm a Democrat so there you go but I walk in there and he’s a defendant and that’s all he is,' he said.
Trump watched the exchange intently, looking as if he were trying to read the man's face for signs that he had already made up his mind.
More on that later.
There were brief moments of levity.
Juror B402, a black woman in a cardigan who works with seniors, admitted she already had thoughts on Trump. After all, who doesn't?
Trump smiled when she said he 'stirs the pot'
'You can't judge him because he
