On the second day of the former presidentās New York criminal trial, the defense argued against seating jurors who had posted negatively about him online
Donald Trump, a man renowned for craving adulation and approval, has this week been confronted with the disdain of Manhattanites called as prospective jurors in hisĀ New York criminal trialĀ for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money payment to porn starĀ Stormy Daniels. No wonder heās apparently trying toĀ sleep throughĀ the proceedings.
While no jurors were selected on Monday ā with dozens excused after indicating they could not be fair and impartial in weighing the 34 felony charges against Trump āĀ sevenĀ made the cut on Tuesday. (The court will need 18 people to qualify in all: 12 jurors and six alternates.) However, more were dismissed after questions arose about content they had shared on social media that disparaged the former president, and Trump himself was not spared from hearing what they had posted.
One potential juror ruled out on Tuesday was a man who recently shared anĀ AI-generated video of Trump saying āIām dumb as fuck,ā according to reporterĀ Josh KovenskyĀ ofĀ Talking Points Memo. The man had evidently tried to conceal his opinion of Trump during earlier questioning, perĀ The New York Times, and protested that the video was only something he āreposted,ā but Judge Juan Merchan dismissed him.
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The notion that Trump might walk for his dozens of crimes because the sheer breadth of his infamy precludes a fair trial is some perverse irony.
Not really how it works. The defense and prosecution do have an unlimited number of challenges to jurors who admit they canāt be impartial or can be proven to have such bias. They have a set number of challenges they donāt need to justify.
Even if you run out of jurors, the mistrial doesnāt trigger double jeopardy.
No it wonāt indeed. It will just further delay the trial which is exactly what Trump wants. He either becomes president, maybe heāll die, but as long as he can push this ahead of him, heāll be fine