Drama from day three of Trump's trial: Jurors scared of being revealed, risk of ... trends now
Finding an impartial jury in the trial of the century is proving to be a challenge the hush money case against Donald Trump entered this third day of jury selection.
It turns out that many potential jurors already have an opinion of the ex-president while others are concerned about their own safety and whether their identities would be publicly uncovered even if they do believe they can remain impartial in the case.
Day three of the Trump hush money trial started with seven jurors having been seated but two were dismissed throughout the day dropping the number down to five before more were added.
Dozens of more potential jurors filed through the courtroom in lower Manhattan as the ex-president of the United States looked on. But many were excused after saying the could not remain impartial.
By the end of the day twelve jurors having been seated. Jury selection for the alternates will continue Friday.
Judge Juan Merchan said he remains hopeful opening statements could begin Monday.
Ex-President Donald Trump awaits day 3 proceedings to start in the Manhattan criminal court on April 18, 2024
Here are the big takeaways:
Twelve jurors seated after two were dismissed
Juror number two was dismissed on Thursday.
One was an oncology nurse who was selected to be the second juror but she was dismissed after casting doubts about her ability to be fair and impartial.
The woman was brought in before proceedings began. She told the court that she 'definitely have my concerns now.'
The woman said she had her friends and family 'push things' questioning her identity as a juror.
‘I don’t believe at this point I can be fair and unbiased and let the outside influence not affect my decision making in the courtroom,' she said.
Merchan said he was 'sorry' she went through that and she was excused.
Juror four was also excused after prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said his team found a man with the same name was arrested for tearing down political ads.
The arrest was not disclosed on the juror questionnaire.
Two replacement jurors were officially added to Trump's panel bringing the tally back to seven by the late afternoon.
A married male engineer originally from California was the next added.
A second man - who follows Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen on Twitter and former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway- also secured a spot on the jury.
By late afternoon the full 12 jurors had been seated for the case.
Two jurors were dismissed on Thursday before the full 12 jurors were seated
Juror privacy is a top concern
Judge Merchan on Thursday addressed concerns over juror privacy as lawyers have struggled to find a jury for the case.
Merchan said he agreed it was important to obtain information about potential jurors' employers, but he ordered that the information be redacted from the court record and directed the press not to report such details.
'It's become a problem,' Merchan said.
He also said the press should not report on physical appearances of jurors which could be used to help identify them.
The directives came as one of the jurors on Thursday expressed concerns over being identified publicly.
The woman said her friends, colleagues and family conveyed to her that she had been identified as a potential juror and she was concerned.
She was one of the two jurors the judge ended up dismissing.
Courtroom sketch of Trump sitting with his lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove during jury selection on day three for his criminal trial on charges of falsifying business records over hush money payments
Dozens excused amid struggle to find impartial jurors
Day three of the trial started with 96 new prospective jurors entering the courtroom.
But 48 of those potential jurors were dismissed after they said they could not be fair or impartial.
Another nine jurors were excused for other reasons as the prosectors and lawyers work to seat a jury of Trump's peers.
Those who remained were questioned individually.
One potential juror who is a paralegal
