Trump lawyer Alina Habba said jurors in the former president’s business records trial should have been sequestered over Memorial Day weekend to prevent friends and family from trying to influence their opinions.
During the period interview Haba, who represents former President Donald Trump, told Fox News the jury should have been sequestered from the press and family and friends over the holiday weekend, adding that the case they are considering is “totally unprecedented and unfair.”
Haba’s comments come as a 12-person jury is expected to reach a verdict on 34 counts of first-degree falsifying business records charged against Trump in connection with payments allegedly made to adult entertainment star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
“These are not sequestered jurors,” Hubba said, “They should have been sequestered because, in my opinion, these jurors are dealing with something completely unprecedented in America, an injustice, and I have serious concerns that they would be out on a holiday weekend, watching the news on TV at a pool party with opinionated friends and family.”
If we can apply the law to the facts, we will win. pic.twitter.com/HsnOR1ObzR
— Alina Habba (@AlinaHabba) May 26, 2024
“If they’re left-wing and they watch what my client calls MSDNC or CNN, they’re not going to hear unbiased news,” Hubba said. “They’re going to hear … but, by the way, they’re saying this case is a hoax. That’s shocking. But they know the jury is listening, and that’s what concerns me.”
Trump’s defense team will rest on May 21, and closing arguments in the trial will begin this Tuesday.
Judge Juan Marchan explained that the Memorial Day weekend was one of the factors that led to closing arguments on May 28, adding that there was “no way” they could have finished what needed to be done by the holiday weekend.
Marchan said he expects closing arguments to last a day and that he expects jury deliberations to begin May 29. according to To The New York Times.
While acknowledging that in some cases “time may be on your side,” Haba added that he was “worried” that jurors would “go back to their friends who may have Trump Derangement Syndrome, come back with no sense of reality” and sit on the jury box feeling “punished because of the DNC.”
“I don’t want that to happen,” Habba added. “I want the law to be recognized as fact, because then we will win. Not only will we have a mismatched verdict, but we will also have an acquittal.”
