Jury selection began Monday in former President Donald Trump’s first criminal case. Legal experts say the case is the weakest and most political, but could still result in a conviction in the overwhelmingly Democratic New York county.
Trump’s hush money case trial Be expected The case, scheduled to last six to eight weeks, will see President Trump appear in court daily during a busy campaign period.Trump is confronting 34 felonies, each carrying up to four penalties, for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election Year In prison.
Philip Holloway, a criminal defense attorney and legal analyst, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that President Trump’s best hope is a hung jury.
“It’s unlikely that Trump will get anything close to a fair trial in Manhattan, where he won just 12% of the vote in 2020,” he said. “If we can get one or two truly unbiased jurors, we may be able to avoid a conviction.”
More than 50 potential jurors were reportedly dismissed on Monday for lack of impartiality. pool report.
Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was indicted Last April, when President Trump recorded and reimbursed the $130,000 he paid former lawyer Michael Cohen to keep quiet about Daniels’ affair allegations as “payments for legal services,” he was charged with another crime (federal He claimed that he was trying to cover up a possible violation of election law. ”
Holloway said the judge “determined that it was not appropriate to dismiss this indictment as a matter of law because it did not tell President Trump exactly what he needed to defend against.” It’s mind-boggling.” By alleging that records were falsified in furtherance of another crime, Mr. Bragg elevated what would normally be a misdemeanor charge to a felony. (Related: Trump prosecutors release jury screening questions ahead of landmark trial)
“The Felony ‘Business Records’ Act requires Mr. Bragg to prove that Mr. Trump falsified records to cover up his crimes, but what crimes did Mr. Trump allegedly cover up? “They haven’t specified anything specifically,” he said. “Otherwise, this case is a misdemeanor at best, and the statute of limitations has expired years ago.”
From a recent court pool report:
“The first group of potential jurors have been sworn in. Donald Trump becomes the first former president in U.S. history to stand trial on criminal charges.” pic.twitter.com/OCpNfARZkZ
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) April 15, 2024
Anna Kominski, a New York State law school professor and director of the Criminal Defense Clinic, told DCNF that jury selection will likely take several weeks due to the nature of the case.
“The two biggest issues are the politics surrounding this case and the media surrounding it,” she said.
Jurors will be held accountable for their affiliation with groups such as the Proud Boys and QAnon, their media appearances, and their “political, moral, intellectual, or religious beliefs” that could interfere with their work on the case. ” is asked. There are also questions gauging their disposition towards the former president, such as whether they have attended anti-Trump rallies or volunteered for his political campaigns.
“This is an attack on America. … I’m very honored to be here.”
— Donald Trump speaks to the media before entering a New York courtroom for jury selection in the hush money trial, the former U.S. president’s first criminal trial. pic.twitter.com/odKtByY7b7
— The Recount (@therecount) April 15, 2024
“It’s impossible to say with certainty what the outcome will be,” John Malcolm, deputy director of the Heritage Foundation Institute for Constitutional Politics and a former assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, told DCNF. “Of the four criminal cases pending against former President Trump, this one rightly qualifies, in my view, as the most explicitly political.”
“Much of the evidence will come from Michael Cohen, a convicted perjurer who appears to have a vendetta against his former boss,” he continued. “Nevertheless, President Trump is not very popular in New York City, where the case is being heard, and 34 felonies is not a trivial matter.
Mr. Cohen begs guilty In 2018, he was charged with making false statements, tax evasion and violating campaign finance laws, and is a key witness for the prosecution.Judge Juan Melchan blocked Trump’s bid Protests began in March to prevent Cohen from testifying, whom his lawyer described as a “serial liar.”
Another pool reporter said many potential panelists craned their necks to look at Trump, and one woman in the back of the room giggled and put her hand over her mouth. But when Marchan read “People of the State of New York vs. Donald J. Trump,” there was no response.
— Tyler McBrien (@TylerMcBrien) April 15, 2024
UCLA Law Professor Richard Hasen I have written The Los Angeles Times Sunday said Trump could have “serious grounds for appeal” even if convicted.
“It is far from clear that the Court of Appeals will treat hush money payments as legitimate campaign expenses that must be reported, rather than as personal expenditures,” he wrote. “And failure to report campaign expenditures as required by federal law may constitute a violation of New York state election law for facilitating the election of any person to public office by unlawful means.” It is not certain whether
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