New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan thanked the participants for their bravery as several shared painful details about their pasts in front of dozens of reporters during the jury screening process. He praised others for their honesty in saying that Trump’s rhetoric would make it difficult for them to judge Trump fairly.
“I feel so confused, worried and anxious,” one juror told the judge Friday morning. “This is a lot more stressful than I thought it was going to be. ” A couple of hours later, a man who had been protesting outside the courthouse all week against both Trump and President Biden he set himself on fire; he was hospitalized in critical condition.
Through questions designed to tease out prejudice among the jury pool, both sides have begun to identify their trial strategies.
Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass told jurors that the government would prove not just bank fraud but an implied conspiracy to “commit election fraud” and “pull the wool over in the eyes of the American electorate. ” In the creation of prosecutors, Trump issued campaign finance laws with paid $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels despite Michael Cohen, his attorney and negotiator, who then falsely claimed that the money used to pay Cohen was for legal work back.
Defense attorney Susan Necheles laid the groundwork for impeachment against Cohen, a convicted prosecutor, by asking potential jurors to “a ‘use your common sense’ and ‘understand if two witnesses…
She said jurors should agree that “if someone tells a story several different ways over time and changes details, that could be a sign they’re lying.”
Another prosecutor suggested that the government try to compensate for the possible weaknesses by presenting documents in court that would support their accounts. “The documents don’t lie,” Assistant District Attorney Susan Hoffinger told the group. “They confirm evidence.”
Before leaving court on Friday, the 12 jurors and six others were warned not to read, listen or watch anything about the case, or talk to anyone. That will be a special challenge in what may be the most closely covered issue in American history, with a presidential candidate and a reality TV star speaking to the television cameras. each day from a hall inside the courthouse.
On Friday, Trump engaged in the same kind of vitriol that many jurors said had colored their opinions of him, saying that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), a Harvard graduate for college and law school, “maybe he wasn’t smart enough. “to handle the trial itself.
In fact, the elected heads of prosecutors’ offices rarely appear in court, and it’s almost always assistant district attorneys like Steinglass and Hoffinger who present the case to jurors.
One member of the jury Friday said that Trump growing up in New Jersey was his image of success in the big city. He told himself that one day he would live in Trump Tower, the Fifth Avenue landmark that Trump built in the early 1980s: “That was a powerful symbol for me.”
Now, the man said, he linked Trump to “harmful” and “divisive” politics. Worse, he said, he didn’t think Trump really believed the perverse things he said — “I think he’s just pushing it to stay in power. “
The man was expelled from the group after it was discovered that he had referred to Trump on social media as “the devil”. So did a woman who said Trump’s rise had created a homophobic, racist and sexist “narrative” at the gym where she used to box.
Others were excluded for reasons that had nothing to do with the famous defender. One woman was overcome with emotion when she explained that she was unable to serve on the jury due to past felony convictions, the details of which were shared with the judge. A man hesitated when he said he was the victim of a crime.
Trump’s team has been scouring social media for evidence that jurors are biased against him. But many of those selected said they were not involved in such platforms or followed politics closely, preferring news about sports, technology and business. Along with the major press releases the president regularly underestimates, several prospective jurors they said they read the conservative New York Post and watch Fox News. And many of the people who were screened said they would have no problem judging the former president.
“He’s a New Yorker, I’m a New Yorker,” said a professional chef. “We don’t really get caught up in stars or care about anything like that.” Trump, he said, “is just a regular guy like me.”
2024-04-20 00:05:17
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