Full jury of 12 people and 6 alternates is seated in Trump’s hush money trial in New York

By Jennifer Peltz, Michael R. Sisak, Jake Offenhartz And Alanna Durkin Richer, The Associated Press on April 19, 2024.

Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings during jury selection at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, April 18, 2024 in New York. (Timothy A. Clary/Pool Photo via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) – A full jury of 12 people and six alternates was seated on Friday in Donald Trump’s hush money case, drawing the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president a step closer to opening statements.

Lawyers spent days quizzing dozens of New Yorkers to choose the panel that has vowed to put their personal views aside and impartially judge whether the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is guilty or not. The jury includes a sales professional, a software engineer, an English teacher and multiple lawyers.

The trial will place Trump in a Manhattan courtroom for weeks, forcing him to juggle his dual role as criminal defendant and political candidate against the backdrop of his hotly contested race against President Joe Biden. It will feature salacious and unflattering testimony his opponent will no doubt seize on to try to paint him as unfit to return as commander in chief.

The case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accuses Trump of falsifying business records to suppress stories about his sex life emerging in the final days of the 2016 election.

It centers on a $130,000 payment that Trump’s lawyer and personal fixer Michael Cohen made shortly before the 2016 election to porn actor Stormy Daniels to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public in the race’s final days.

Prosecutors say Trump obscured 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 star 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 expenses.

Trump, who faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, has denied any wrongdoing. He could get up to four years in prison if convicted, though it’s not clear that the judge would opt to put him behind bars. Trump would almost certainly appeal any conviction.

The hush money case is among four criminal prosecutions involving Trump as he vies to reclaim the White House, but it’s possible that it will be the sole case to reach trial before November’s presidential election.

Appeals and other legal wrangling have caused delays in cases charging Trump with plotting to overturn the 2020 election results and with illegally hoarding classified documents.

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