NEW YORK — (AP) — A full jury of 12 people and six alternates was seated Friday in Donald Trump’s hush-money case, setting the stage for opening statements next week in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president.
Hours later, an appeals court judge rejected a last-minute attempt to halt the case by Trump’s lawyers, who argued that jury selection was rushed and that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee cannot get a fair trial in Manhattan.
The jury, made up of a software engineer, an investment banker, an English teacher and several lawyers, took final shape after lawyers spent days questioning dozens of potential jurors about whether they could judge Trump impartially in the city where he built his real estate empire before leaving office. was elected. in 2016.
The lawsuit puts Trump’s legal troubles at the heart of his hotly contested race against President Joe Biden, with Trump’s opponent likely to use unflattering and salacious testimony to argue that he is unfit to return as commander in chief.
Trump, meanwhile, is using the prosecution as a political rallying cry, casting himself as a victim while juggling his dual role as a criminal defendant and a presidential candidate.
Judge Juan Merchan said attorneys will make opening statements Monday morning before prosecutors begin laying out their case. They allege a plan to cover up negative stories that Trump feared would harm his 2016 presidential campaign.
Despite the failure of repeated previous attempts to delay the trial, a lawyer for Trump sat in an appeals court hours after the jury was seated, arguing that Merchan made it impossible for Trump to get an impartial panel by speed up the selection process.
“It is untenable to think that an impartial jury can be found within that period, which I would respectfully submit,” said attorney Clifford Robert.
Judge Marsha Michael denied the request just minutes after a brief hearing.
Back in court, Merchan expressed frustration as Trump’s lawyers pushed for a litany of preliminary rulings.
“At some point you have to accept the court’s rulings,” Merchan said. “There is nothing further to clarify. There is nothing else to criticize. We will make opening statements Monday morning. This process is about to begin.”
Just after the jury was seated, emergency services responded to a park outside the courthouse, where a man had set himself on fire. The man pulled out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories and distributed them throughout the park before dousing himself with a flammable substance and setting himself on fire, officials said. He was in critical condition as of Friday afternoon.
Trump has spent the week sitting quietly in the courtroom as lawyers pressed potential jurors about their views of him, searching for any biases that might keep them from hearing the case. During breaks in the proceedings, he has spoken out against the case on social media or to TV cameras in the hallway, calling it a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
“This trial is a long, rigorous endurance contest about dirty, corrupt people who want to DESTROY our country,” he wrote on social media on Friday.
During five days of jury selection, dozens of people were removed from the jury because they said they did not believe they could be fair. Others expressed concern that such a follow-up case should be decided with excessive media attention, even though the judge has ruled that the names of the jurors will be known only to prosecutors, Trump and their legal teams.
A woman chosen to serve on the jury was dismissed Thursday after raising concerns about messages she said she received from friends and family when aspects of her identity became public. On Friday, another woman burst into tears while being questioned by a prosecutor about her ability to decide the case based solely on evidence presented in court.
“I feel so nervous and anxious right now,” the woman said. “I’m very sorry. I wouldn’t want someone who feels that way to judge my case either. I don’t want to waste the court’s time.”
As more potential jurors were questioned on Friday, Trump appeared to lean forward at the defense table, scribbling up some papers and exchanging notes with one of his lawyers. Occasionally he would perk up and stare at the jury box, even when a prospective juror said he had volunteered to try to vote for Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Trump spoke to reporters before Friday’s proceedings started, denouncing a silence order that prosecutors have charged him with. Merchan has scheduled oral arguments for next week on prosecutors’ request to hold Trump in contempt of court and fine him for social media posts that they say exceed the limits of what he can say about potential witnesses.
“The gag order must be lifted. People can speak about me, and I have a gag order,” Trump said.
Merchan also heard arguments Friday on prosecutors’ request to bring up Trump’s past legal entanglements when he takes the witness stand in the hush money case. Trump has said he wants to testify, but he is not required to do so and he can always change his mind.
Prosecutors in Manhattan have said they want to question Trump about his recent civil fraud trial that resulted in a $454 million verdict after a judge found that Trump had lied about his wealth for years. He is appealing against that verdict. Merchan said he would rule on the matter in the coming days.
The lawsuit centers on a $130,000 payment that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, made to porn actor Stormy Daniels to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump in the final days of the 2016 race would become public.
Prosecutors say Trump covered up the true nature of the payments in internal records when his company reimbursed Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018 and is expected to be a key witness for the prosecution.
Trump has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels, and his lawyers argue that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal fees.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying company records. He could face up to four years in prison if convicted, although it is not clear whether the judge would choose to put him behind bars. Trump would almost certainly appeal any conviction.
Trump is involved in four criminal cases, but it is not clear that other criminal cases will be tried before the November election. Appeals and legal wrangling have caused delays in the other three cases in which Trump was accused of plotting to overturn the 2020 election results and illegally hoarding classified documents.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of former President Donald Trump at https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.