One juror who throws in the towel, another chosen then finally eliminated: the New York court, which judges Donald Trump in a historic trial , resumed on Thursday the laborious work of selecting an impartial jury ready to take part. resist pressure. Judge Juan Merchan has set himself the objective of being able to bring together this jury, namely twelve New York citizens and six alternates, before the end of the week, to enter into the heart of the debates on Monday . But at midday Thursday, the court had two fewer jurors, making five in total. First, a first juror expressed her fears of being identified, saying she had been recognized by relatives, even though the jury is supposed to remain anonymous to avoid pressure. A little later, the judge “excused” another member of the jury, whom prosecutors revealed they discovered after research that he may not have told the whole truth in answering the lengthy questionnaire issued to each potential juror. – Anonymity – These first snags raise in particular the question of the guarantee of the anonymity of the jurors throughout the trial, while Donald Trump lamented several times about being judged in New York, a Democratic stronghold. Former US President Donald Trump returns to court after a recess during his criminal trial on April 18, 2024 in New York © POOL – Brendan McDermid The Republican candidate, who denounces “political persecution”, took up on Wednesday, on the Truth Social network, the remarks of a Fox News host, Jesse Watters, assuring without proof that “They are choosing undercover progressive activists who lie to the judge to serve on the jury.” The prosecution and the defense have the possibility of challenging ten jurors each, without providing justification. The judge has already prohibits Donald Trump from attacking jurors on social networks. After these incidents, their number went from 7 to 5, out of 12 required, not counting the 6 substitutes necessary. First former president in the history of the United States to appear in criminal court, Donald Trump is on trial in a case of hidden payments to buy silence of a former porn star, Stormy Daniels, a few days before the 2016 election which he won narrowly against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. – Scrutinized life – Potential jurors, anonymous citizens plunged overnight into a historic affair, find their lives scrutinized. Donald Trump's legal woes © AFP – Olivia BUGAULT, Sophie RAMIS They must answer a long questionnaire on their professions, family situation, sources of information, centers of interest, and their opinion on Donald Trump, but also to even more detailed questions from the prosecution or the defense, which has tracks any sign of possible bias against the defendant, particularly in their publications on social networks. This ballet continues on Thursday. More than three years after leaving the White House in chaos, Donald Trump theoretically faces a prison sentence. This would not prevent him from being a candidate in the presidential election on November 5, where he dreams of revenge on Joe Biden, but would project the campaign into the unknown. If he were found not guilty, it would, however, be a major success for the Republican candidate. Especially since he managed through appeals to postpone his three other criminal trials, two for illicit attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election, and one for supposedly casual handling of classified documents. Former US President Donald Trump in the Harlem neighborhood after attending the second day of his trial, April 16, 2024 in New York © AFP – Kena Betancur In the trial that began on Monday, Donald Trump is charged with falsifying accounting documents from his company, the Trump Organization, which allegedly aimed to hide, under the cover of “legal fees”, the payment of 130,000 dollars to Stormy Daniels by her personal lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen. In exchange, the former porn star had agreed to keep quiet about a sexual relationship with the billionaire in 2006. Donald Trump has always denied this relationship and his defense assures that the payments were in the private sphere. But prosecutor Alvin Bragg intends to demonstrate that he these are indeed fraudulent maneuvers to hide information from voters a few days before the vote. All rights of reproduction and representation reserved. © (2024) Agence France-Presse
By Teilor Stone
Teilor Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining Thesaxon , Teilor Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my teilor@nizhtimes.com 1-800-268-7116