One of the jurors selected and sworn in earlier this week to serve on former President Trump’s criminal trial was excused Thursday morning, saying he no longer believed he could be impartial.
Seven jurors were selected and sworn in on the second day of jury selection on Tuesday. The court will not meet Wednesday for President Trump’s trial and will reconvene Thursday morning for a third day of jury selection.
Juror #2, a woman who lives on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and works as a nurse, returned to court Thursday morning and, after further consideration, decided whether the case was fair and balanced. He said he had concerns.
A courtroom sketch depicts the second day of former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Manhattan Criminal Court. Jury selection in the hush money scandal is still underway. (Kristin Cornell)
“There are definitely concerns,” she said, noting that family and friends are wondering whether she will serve on the jury. “I don’t think I can be fair.”
She also said she thought “outside influences” might “interfere.”
The woman also said she did not want her identity to be published.
Judge Juan Melchan pardoned her and warned the press against covering the trial.
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of the second day of jury selection in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday, April 16, 2024 in New York. Donald Trump said Tuesday that a judge is working to find a jury to decide whether the former president is guilty of criminal charges that he allegedly falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal during the 2016 campaign. While doing so, he returned to the courtroom. (AP Photo/Mary Altafer, Pool)
“You can write anything you want on the record, but please apply common sense when writing about jurors using physical descriptions and depictions,” Marchan said.
42 questions for potential jurors in President Trump’s hush money trial
Marchand told reporters not to write about what they could see to “ensure the safety of the jury.”
“We lost someone who would have been a good juror,” Machan said, adding: “I was afraid of being intimidated.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Donald Trump returns to a New York courtroom on Tuesday. A judge is working to find a jury to decide whether the former president is guilty of criminal charges that he allegedly falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal during the 2016 campaign. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
After Juror #2 left, six jurors were sworn in. Twelve more jurors are needed before opening arguments begin.
Mr. Trump, The presumptive Republican presidential candidate was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records. The charges relate to hush money allegedly paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He has denounced the trial as pure politics and “political persecution” and maintains his innocence. The former president is scheduled to testify at trial.
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Asked last week about the possibility of testifying, President Trump said, “I will tell the truth.”
President Trump is the first president in U.S. history to undergo a criminal trial.
This is a developing story. Please check back for the latest information.
