Potential jurors express anxiety about deciding Trump hush money case as jury selection nears close

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) – Potential jurors expressed anxiety Friday about deciding Donald Trump’s hush money case, with one woman breaking down in tears, as lawyers worked to round out the panel that will hear the first-ever trial of a former U.S. president.

After a jury of 12 New Yorkers was seated Thursday, lawyers turned their attention to picking alternates who can vow to impartially judge the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Two more alternates were chosen Friday, with four others still needed.

A half-dozen would-be jurors were dismissed, including several who cited nervousness about being connected to such a consequential trial that will attract outsized media attention.

“I feel so nervous and anxious right now,” one woman said through tears. “I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t want someone who feels like this to judge my case either. I don’t want to waste the court’s time.”

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 Trump as unfit to return as commander in chief.

Judge Juan M. Merchan has suggested that opening statements could begin as early as Monday, before prosecutors begin laying out their case alleging a scheme to cover up negative stories Trump feared would hurt his 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump has spent the week sitting quietly in the courtroom as lawyers press potential jurors on their views about him in a search for any bias that could preclude them from hearing the case. During breaks in the proceedings, he has lashed out about the allegations and the judge to cameras in the hallway, using his mounting legal problems as a political rallying cry to cast himself of a victim.

One woman who had been chosen to serve on the jury was dismissed Thursday after she raised concerns over messages she said she got from friends and family when aspects of her identity became public. The judge has ruled that their names will be known only to prosecutors, Trump and their legal teams.

Those chosen to hear the case so far include a sales professional, a software engineer, a security engineer, an English teacher, a speech therapist, multiple lawyers, an investment banker and a retired wealth manager.

As more potential jurors were questioned Friday, Trump appeared to lean over at the defense table, scribbling on some papers and exchanging notes with one of his lawyers. He occasionally perked up and gazed at the jury box, including when one would-be juror said he had volunteered in a “get out the vote” effort for Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Another prospective juror got Trump’s attention when he mentioned that he follows the White House Instagram account, including when Trump was in office. Trump shot a grin at one man who was asked if he was married and joked that he had been trying to find a wife in his spare time, but “it’s not working.”

After arriving at the courthouse Friday, Trump complained about the gag order imposed by the judge that limits what he can publicly say about witnesses. He has lashed out on social media about the judge, prosecutors and likely witnesses, prompting the district attorney’s office to seek sanctions for possible gag order violations.

The judge will hold a hearing next week on prosecutors’ request to hold Trump in contempt.

“The gag order has to come off. People are allowed to speak about me, and I have a gag order,” Trump said.

Merchan is also expected to hold a hearing Friday to consider a request from prosecutors to bring up Trump’s prior legal entanglements if he takes the stand in the hush money case. Manhattan prosecutors have said they want to question Trump about his recent civil fraud trial that resulted in a $454 million judgment after a judge found Trump had lied about his wealth for years. He is appealing that verdict.

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

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 faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. 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.

Trump is involved in four criminal cases, but it’s not clear that any others will reach trial before the November election. Appeals and legal wrangling have caused delays in the other three cases charging Trump with plotting to overturn the 2020 election results and with illegally hoarding classified documents.

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Richer reported from Washington.