Seven jurors have been selected and sworn in so far to serve as jurors in former President Trump’s historic and unprecedented first criminal trial.
Trump, the 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.
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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.
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.
A courtroom sketch depicts the second day of former President Trump’s criminal trial Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Manhattan Criminal Court. Jury selection in the hush money scandal is still underway. (Kristin Cornell)
By the end of jury selection Tuesday, seven jurors had been selected and sworn in. The jury so far includes four men and three women, all of whom live in New York City. Their professions included jobs in law, finance, nursing, technology, and more.
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Eleven more jurors are expected to be selected and sworn in in the coming days.Jury selection is scheduled to resume Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
Former President Trump awaits the start of the second day of jury selection at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Trump on Tuesday as a judge works to find a jury to decide whether he is guilty of criminal charges alleging he falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal during the 2016 campaign. , is back in court. (AP Photo/Mary Altafer, Pool)
Here we introduce each of the seven jurors so far.
Juror #1 and the presiding judge
Juror #1 is a man who lives in West Harlem. He is from Ireland. He doesn’t have any children, but he likes doing things outdoors. He gets his news from the New York Times, Daily Mail, Fox News, and MSNBC.
Asked if Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, knew that Trump was being indicted in other cases or jurisdictions and how that would affect him, he said: I don’t have an opinion.”
Juror #2
Juror #2 is a woman who lives on the Upper East Side with her fiance. She has no children. She is a native New Yorker and works as an oncology nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The woman holds a master’s degree in nursing. Her fiancé works at a financial institution in New York City. This woman enjoys spending time with her family and friends and taking her dog to the park, she said.
When asked, she said she gets her news from the New York Times, Google, and Facebook.
Asked by Trump’s lawyer what she thought about Trump, the woman said, “I don’t really have an opinion, especially in court. He can be treated like anyone else.”
“No one is above the law,” she said.
When asked again what opinion she had coming into the courtroom, the woman said, “I never thought I would be in a place like this…I’m here for my civic duty.” answered.
Juror #3
Juror #3 is a young to middle-aged Asian man living in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The man said he grew up in Oregon and has been a lawyer practicing corporate law for five years. The man enjoys hiking and running, and he reads the New York Times and Google News, he said.
Juror #4
Juror #4 is a middle-aged man who lives on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The man was born in Puerto Rico and is self-employed, having worked as an IT consultant for about 10 years.
The man said he had been married “for a long time” and had one child and two grandchildren. His wife is a writer, and his children work in sales and research.
When asked about his hobbies, he replied, “I don’t have free time.” “I think my hobby is family.”
The man works with local nonprofit organizations and has previously served on juries in civil cases, but said he did not remember the verdict.
Former President Trump on Monday, April 15, 2024, in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City. Jury selection for Trump’s criminal trial begins Monday. He faces 34 felonies for falsifying his business records as part of a scheme to silence allegations of extramarital sex. He was encountered during the 2016 presidential campaign. (Javin Botsford/Washington Post/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He said he gets his news from the New York Daily News, the New York Times and Google. He said he also listens to podcasts.
Jurors described Trump as a “fascinating and mysterious person.”
“He comes into rooms and kicks people out in one way or another,” the jury said. “I think that’s really interesting. Really, this guy can do all this — amazing. That’s what I think.”
Juror #5
Juror #5 is a young black woman. She is from Harlem and has been an English language arts teacher for eight years, she said.
The woman was previously a caseworker at a juvenile detention center and now works at Kipp Charter School in New York City. She said she has a master’s degree in education.
“I’m a creative at heart,” she says, adding that she loves photography.
The woman is unmarried and has no children. Her mother was an administrative assistant in the New York City Police Department, and her godfather was a homicide detective in the NYPD.
The woman said she gets her news from Google and TikTok.
She was asked whether she would count that against Trump if he chose not to testify.
“I don’t blame him,” she said.
Former President Trump appears with his attorneys Todd Blanche (left) and Emile Bove before jury selection begins at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on April 15, 2024. President Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his first criminal case to go to trial. (Javin Botsford Pool/Getty Images)
She explained that she has friends who have strong opinions about the former president, but said she is not a political person and tries to avoid political conversations.
But she said she appreciates President Trump’s candor.
“President Trump says what he thinks, and I prefer that to a presidency where you don’t know what he’s thinking,” she said.
When jurors were asked if they knew that Mr. Trump had been indicted in cases other than Mr. Bragg, most said they knew. However, Juror #5 raised his hand to indicate that he was learning about the additional charges for the first time.
Former President Trump appears in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in New York City. Trump’s first criminal trial got off to a rocky start Monday, with disagreements over evidence and other last-minute arguments bogging down the proceedings and even leaving the case open. The former president looked bored and rested his eyes from time to time. (Justin Lane/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Juror #6
Juror #6 is a young woman who lives in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. She described herself as a New Yorker.
This woman is a software engineer at the Walt Disney Company. She likes to dance, she said.
Juror #7
Juror #7 is a white male who lives on the Upper East Side. He is a North Carolina native and is an attorney and civil litigator.
The man said he was married with two children and that his wife worked in risk management at a bank. He said he enjoys spending time outdoors with his family.
The man said he gets his news from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and Washington Post.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Former President Trump on Tuesday began searching for a jury to decide whether he is guilty of criminal charges that he allegedly falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal during the 2016 campaign. Return to the New York courtroom as the judge goes. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
When asked if his career as a lawyer affects his ability to do his job fairly and impartially, or if his opinions interfere with his ability to do his job fairly, the man said he has “political views about Trump’s term in office.” He said there was a high possibility that Trump would be there. He did not agree with the administration’s policies.
“I don’t know the man and I personally have no opinion,” he said.
Regarding his career as a lawyer, he said he has no opinion on President Trump’s character.
“I do check the news,” he said. “I know there are other cases out there. But I don’t know if I know anyone’s character.”
FOX News’ Grace Taggart contributed to this report.
