Jury selection will continue — and may conclude — on Friday in the former president Donald Trump‘s historic New York criminal court.
With a full jury of 12 and one alternate jury he swore On Thursday, Judge Juan Mercan summoned 96 potential jurors to a Manhattan courtroom, hoping to find five more alternate jurors for the pretrial. trial of the former presidentthis is expected to last about six weeks.
In addition to those 96 potential jurors, the remaining 22 from Thursday will be questioned.
Opening statements could take place as early as Monday if the effort to fill the jury box is successful.
The main panel 12 consists of seven men and five women, including two lawyers, a teacher, a retired wealth manager, a product development manager, a security engineer, a software engineer, a speech therapist and a physical therapist. The accountant—the judge who essentially acts as the leader and spokesperson for the panel—is a married man who works in sales and gets his news from The New York Times, MSNBC and Fox News.
The only alternative chosen on Thursday is a woman who works as an asset manager.
It is also expected to hold what is known as Merchan on Friday Sandoval hearingis a type of hearing designed to give defendants an idea of the range of questions prosecutors may face during cross-examination so they can make informed decisions about whether to testify in their own defense.
In a filing with the court, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said it wanted to ask Trump about several items, including a $464 million civil judgment against him and his company. fraudverdicts and liability findings totaling $88 million sexual abuse and slander in lawsuits brought by writer E. Jean Carroll and in a number of other adverse court decisions over the past few years.
Trump has denied wrongdoing in all cases and continues to do so attractive fraud conviction and Carroll convictions.
Prosecutors said they wanted to bring up the findings “to undermine the defendant’s credibility” if he testifies.
Trump said last week “definitely” plans to testifybut it has no obligation to do so.
Merchan was informed about this by Trump’s lawyers in a letter Last month, the DA’s office said they would seek a ban on “asking about these items.”
Trump begged not guilty He is charged with falsifying 34 job documents and faces up to four years in prison if convicted.
Bragg claims that Trump falsified records to hide the money he paid his former lawyer Michael Cohen adult film actor to repay the $130,000 he paid her Stormy Daniels Near the end of the 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels claimed that she had sex with Trump in 2006. Trump has denied sleeping with Daniels, but he has admitted paying Cohen.
The DA’s office also alleges that National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc. paid $150,000 to the model and actor. Karen McDougalAccording to the facts provided by Bragg, who appeared in Playboy magazine and claimed to have had a nine-month affair with Trump before he was elected president “in exchange for her agreeing not to talk about the alleged sex.”
Trump also denied having sex with McDougal.