Trump trial: Jury filled for hush money case; opening arguments possible Monday
Last edited Fri Apr 19, 2024, 02:41 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: CNBC
Published Fri, Apr 19 2024 8:41 AM EDT Updated 6 Min Ago
A full panel of 12 jurors and six alternates was selected Friday for the New York criminal hush money trial of Donald Trump. Judge Juan Merchan anticipates opening arguments in the Manhattan Supreme Court trial to begin Monday.
As the four-day jury selection process finished up, a shocking scene unfolded just outside the courthouse: A man set himself on fire outside the court in an area cordoned off for protestors, NBC News reported.
Law enforcement officers immediately ran over to the man. New York Police Department Chief Jeffrey Maddrey is set to brief reporters about the incident at 2:45 p.m. ET. Similar to the previous three trial days, Friday’s efforts to fill the jury box for the unprecedented criminal trial was not always straightforward.
Some potential jurors were dismissed after saying they could not be impartial in the case involving the former president. At least three people said they were suffering from anxiety or “self-doubt” at the prospect of having to serve on the jury. The fourth day of the former president’s historic trial is also expected to include a hearing aimed to inform Trump about what his prosecutors could grill him on if he decides to testify under oath.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/19/trump-trial-set-to-pick-final-alternate-jurors-for-hush-money-case-.html
Article updated.
Original article -
A full panel of 12 jurors and six alternates was selected Friday for the New York criminal hush money trial of Donald Trump. Judge Juan Merchan anticipates opening arguments in the Manhattan Supreme Court trial to begin Monday.
Like in the previous three trial days, Friday’s efforts to fill the jury box for the unprecedented criminal trial was not always straightforward.
Some potential jurors were dismissed after saying they could not be impartial in the case involving the former president. And at least three people said that they were suffering from anxiety or “self-doubt” at the prospect of having to serve on the jury. The fourth day of the former president’s historic trial is also expected to include a hearing aimed to inform Trump about what his prosecutors could grill him on if he decides to testify under oath.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said that if Trump takes the stand, they want to challenge his credibility by asking him about his various other legal battles, including two high-profile civil judgments he has been ordered to pay in New York.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Asher Stockler
Rockland/Westchester Journal News
Published 6:45 p.m. ET April 18, 2024 | Updated 7:21 a.m. ET April 19, 2024
Herson Cabreras said he was taken by surprise when the judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial in New York dismissed him from jury service Thursday, after he had already been empaneled. ... "That surprised me, that really surprised me," Cabreras, previously known only as Juror Number 4, said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY. "I said, 'Wow, something else is going on here.' But they decided not to take me, and that’s it. What can I say? So I said, 'Fine.'" ... Cabreras, an IT professional and political consultant, felt as if he had been inserted into the middle of a "competition" between Judge Juan Merchan, the prosecution and the defense. ... "Everybody wants to look good and fair in front of the public, but they don’t act fair,” Cabreras said.
Trump is charged with 34 counts of allegedly falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in order to influence the 2016 election. ... Another juror who had been selected Tuesday was also dismissed Thursday, in her case because she said she no longer believed she could be impartial.
Judge Juan Merchan, here in a courtroom sketch on March 25, 2024, has hit Donald Trump with a wider gag order in his New York criminal hush money case after the former president repeatedly targeted the judge's daughter in social media posts. Jane Rosenberg/Reuters
A very old arrest
The kerfuffle over his jury service arose after prosecutors raised the issue of a 1991 incident in which Cabreras and an associate were accused of tearing down political campaign signs in Harrison, New York, a suburb of New York City. A majority of the signs belonged to Republicans.
But Cabreras, who is in his late 70s, said he hardly even remembered the 33-year-old incident when he was confronted about it for the first time by the prosecution Thursday. He said he has served on civil juries in New York and never had to disclose the poster incident. ... "I didn't expect they were going to go into my history of 30 years and pull out something I didn't even remember," he said.
{snip}
