The controversial New York City criminal trial of former President Donald Trump faced challenges in jury selection on Thursday when two of the seven jurors who had been chosen were dismissed. Judge Juan Merchan dismissed one juror early in the day and a second later on, as reported by various sources.
The Manhattan court, which will be prosecuting Trump for allegedly “falsifying business records” in the Stormy Daniels “hush money” case, is aiming to have 12 impartial jurors and six alternates.
On Monday, dozens of potential jurors were sent home immediately. However, on Thursday, the process took a negative turn as two out of the seven jurors selected for the trial were disqualified. According to the New York Post, a juror identified as number four was dismissed due to questions raised about an old criminal case he was associated with.
During the court proceedings, the man was heard asking loudly, “Let me ask you a question… Do you all feel this way?” The rest of the conversation was not audible to reporters present in the room.
Judge Merchan spoke with the man for about four minutes before deciding to dismiss him from the case. NBC News reported that the man was frustrated by the amount of personal information available about him in the public domain. As a result, Judge Merchan sent the man home and sealed a transcript containing the juror’s discussion of highly personal information.
The Washington Post further reported: “Prosecutors flagged him as a concern because someone with his name was arrested in the 1990s for tearing down right-wing posters and is married to a woman who entered a deferred prosecution agreement over corruption charges.”
The other member of the jury was set free on Thursday following her acknowledgment that she would be incapable of maintaining impartiality. According to the article, her concerns about being a fair and unbiased juror arose after her friends identified her as one of the jurors and she contemplated the matter overnight.
In the trial led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, former President Trump is facing a total of 34 felony charges, to which he has entered a plea of not guilty. As the presumed Republican Party nominee for the 2024 presidential election, he becomes the first president in the history of the United States to undergo a criminal trial.
