Manhattan Criminal Court on April 15 began trial of Donald Trump in an unprecedented prosecution in US history, when a former president was accused of falsifying business records to pay for illegal information.
The trial takes place 4 days a week, except Wednesdays and weekends, and is expected to last at least 6 weeks under the chairmanship of judge Juan Merchan.
The jury will be tasked with determining whether Mr. Trump is guilty of covering up payments to Stormy Daniels so that the porn star would not speak out about his affair scandal before the 2016 election.
`Selecting a jury in a case involving a celebrity like former President Trump creates unique challenges,` said senior trial counsel Joshua Steinglass, Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Former President Donald Trump arrived at Manhattan criminal court on April 16.
The jury is the one who can decide Mr. Trump’s legal fate at trial, but is not legal experts or people with trial expertise.
Court staff will select potential jurors from lists of registered voters, taxpayers, driver’s license holders, public assistance recipients and other sources of information.
Individuals can volunteer to sign up to be jurors, but they cannot choose which trial to attend.
The jury selection process can take days, and lawyers on both sides do not have much opportunity to shape the jury in their favor.
The jury in Mr. Trump’s hush money case will consist of randomly selected individuals living in Manhattan, one of the five boroughs in New York City.
The chair asks potential jurors a number of important questions such as whether they can participate and work in court impartially.
More than half of the 96 potential jurors convened on April 15 immediately said they could not be impartial in the case and asked to be removed from the list.
`Political views are not necessarily a cause of bias,` said jury consultant Melissa Gomez of law firm IMS Legal Strategies.
Attorneys for each side will have a certain number of turns to remove potential jurors they don’t like without giving a reason.
The judge did not allow lawyers to ask potential jurors if they support the Democratic or Republican parties, plan to vote for anyone or have donated money to any candidates.
Parties also need to be wary of `hidden` jurors, those who are prejudiced but appear neutral.
This process continues until the court selects 12 jurors and 6 alternates.
Judge Merchan requested that jurors’ identities be kept secret.
The jury will appear in court, listen to the testimony and arguments of the parties and decide whether Mr. Trump is guilty or not of the crime of falsifying business records.
If the jury cannot agree on a decision, the judge may adjourn the trial and the trial may proceed from the beginning.
Area for witnesses (left) and jury in courtroom 422, New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan in February 2012.
Manhattan Criminal Court is on leave on April 17 and will continue the jury process on April 18.
Falsifying business records is the lowest-level crime in New York, with a maximum penalty of four years in prison.
In addition, because Mr. Trump has no criminal record and the prosecution is not violent, judge Merchan can impose a lenient sentence and only impose a short prison sentence or simply put Mr. Trump on probation for the crimes.
