Trump's 1st criminal trial begins with huge challenge: finding 12 unbiased jurors

On most days, Bajia Reed teaches American history. On Monday morning, she felt like she was living it.

She showed up for jury duty outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan, wonder‐ ing if she'd be on the massive jury pool for Donald Trump's criminal trial.

It's the first criminal trial of a sitting or former U.S. president and may be the on‐ ly such case heard before the November presidential elec‐ tion.

But there's a more imme‐ diate challenge: finding im‐ partial jurors for a case in‐ volving a man who leaves few people indifferent.

"I think this is American political history," Reed said as she lined up on the sidewalk, just behind a row of scores of television cameras from out‐ lets around the world.

WATCH | Crowds outside weigh in on Trump trial:

"It is the moment to test what our founders really crafted in our founding docu‐ ments. We need those to be true, and we need to hold him to every letter of the law."

The statistical odds are low of her making the final cut of 12 jurors, plus alter‐ nates. And that's not just be‐ cause she was among hun‐ dreds at the courthouse Monday, or because of her teaching duties on the Upper East Side.

Another complicating fac‐ tor? She has a clear opinion on the Trump case: "Oh, he's totally guilty."

Prospective jurors strained to get a glimpse of the famous defendant as they filed into the courtroom. One seated near the back giggled and put her hand to her mouth.

Of the first 96 potential ju‐ rors brought into the courtroom, more than 50 raised their hand to indicate they couldn't be partial in this trial.

Several dozen of Mon‐ day's candidates remain un‐ der consideration, but by day's end, none were official‐ ly seated; the process contin‐ ues Tuesday.

A reporter heard one prospective juror, a young woman, leaving the courtroom saying, "I just couldn't do it."

Unique challenge

There's also the unique chal‐ lenge of this case, involving Trump's payments to a porn star paramour to keep her silent about their affair.

Trump is accused of com‐ mitting 34 state felonies by paying Stormy Daniels to stay silent during the 2016 elec‐ tion, and hiding those pay‐ ments, in violation of elec‐ tion-spending laws.

The case may ultimately hinge on whether he actually intended to skirt any of those election-spending laws, but that's an issue for later.

Jury selection is expected to last one or two weeks, with the bulk of the trial likely lasting through most of the spring.

This means Trump will be tethered to Manhattan for the four days a week the court sits (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday) instead of criss-crossing the country campaigning.

Gag order warnings, re‐ ported dozing

Jury selection didn't start im‐ mediately on Monday. Initial‐ ly, the sides debated numer‐ ous motions, including what was admissible as evidence.

The judge gave wins to both sides. He refused the prosecution's bid to show the notorious Access Hollywood tape from 2016 where Trump described groping women's genitals; he did, however, al‐ low a transcript of the tape.

In the most dramatic mo‐ ment of the morning, Trump was warned that he could be jailed if he misbehaves. Jus‐ tice Juan Merchan asked if he understood that he could be arrested if he disrupts the proceedings, fails to appear at trial or violates bail rules. Trump responded yes. In fact, Trump is already being accused of violating a gag order by trashing various parties in the case on social media. Prosecutors sought a $1,000 fine for each of three alleged violations; a contem‐ pt hearing was set for April 23.

An unmoved Trump un‐ loaded on the judge again af‐ ter Monday's hearing. He ex‐ pressed anger that he would not be excused to attend his youngest son Barron's high school graduation or a U.S. Supreme Court hearing on presidential immunity, perti‐ nent to his separate federal cases.

"It's a scam," he said. Other moments were less dramatic. Trump was de‐ scribed as appearing asleep at one point by several jour‐ nalists in the courthouse, who also shared notes with colleagues.

One of the reporters, Maggie Haberman of the

New York Times, described his jaw falling open and his head dropping into his chest.

A limited number of news reporters were allowed in the courtroom, and in an over‐ flow room equipped with a TV; the trial is not being broadcast.

Finally, after lunch, the first batch of potential jurors was allowed into the courtroom. There were 96 in that group, and hundreds more could be called.

Trump stared at the judge as he addressed the potenti‐ al jurors. Occasionally his eyes shifted toward the jury box, where some were seated.

'Proud to be here': Trump

Trump and his allies seemed intent on transforming the courthouse into their virtual campaign stage. Pro-Trump celebrities were outside the courtroom, determined to turn the lemons of his legal travails into political lemon‐ ade.

They denounced his al‐ leged persecution, as did Trump himself when he paused to speak to TV cam‐ eras in the courthouse hall‐ way.

"It's an assault on Amer‐ ica," Trump said. "And that's why I'm proud to be here .... I'm very honoured to be here."

If he was proud to be there, he hasn't been acting like it in recent months, as he repeatedly tried quashing the case, and getting the judge, Merchan, dismissed because of his daughter's political work for Democrats and his own $35 in donations to De‐ mocrats.

The judge swatted away yet another request for him to recuse himself. Merchan fumed that the court was being "inundated" with mo‐ tions he called "close to frivo‐ lous, if not frivolous."

Out in the street, an antiTrump protester voiced what appears to be the majority view of legal and political an‐ alysts entering the case.

That view is that Trump, if convicted, is unlikely to be sent to jail for crimes that carry a maximum of four years per count.

"Oh no. But he'll be a felon," said Tim Smith, an ar‐ tist from Pennsylvania who sells works from outside Trump court appearances, holding up a poster that said, "Loser."

And if he's a felon, Smith said, that might hurt the reelection chances of a man he views as an anti-democratic, anti-American, budding dicta‐ tor. Some polls have sug‐ gested a guilty conviction could shave a few points off of Trump's support.

"Which will hopefully af‐ fect voter-base turnout," Smith said.

Searching for unbiased jurors in Manhattan

Given the political overtones of the case, it's no surprise that politics will be part of the jury selection process.

Jurors will have to fill out a questionnaire. It asks dozens of questions including about their opinions related to Trump, and this case, what media they read and what books they might have read from parties connected to the case.

Trump's challenge here is finding unbiased jurors in Manhattan, where most peo‐ ple have a clear opinion on him - and it's overwhelmingly negative.

WATCH | Opportunities

for Trump's defence:

Democrats outnumber Republicans nine to one in this county, and it's why he tried moving the case to the suburbs; that gambit failed, as this county is where he lived, and where key facts of the case unfolded.

"The beliefs of the people judging you are always criti‐ cal and often more important than facts," said Tim Bakken, a New York lawyer, former prosecutor and law professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

"The Trump team must find jurors who have the mental strength to reject their political leanings, ironi‐ cally in a politically charged case, and trust that only the law should guide them to a verdict."

Early predictions

But Trump has one major statistical advantage: the prosecution needs a unani‐ mous decision for a convic‐ tion; he doesn't.

"They only need one juror to acquit," said Mark Cohen, a long-time New York crimi‐ nal defence and prosecution lawyer.

He said politics won't be the only factor in picking ju‐ rors. The prosecution and de‐ fence will also weigh person‐ al traits, Cohen said.

For example, he said, the prosecution will look for peo‐ ple who've made difficult de‐ cisions in their professional or personal lives. The de‐ fence will look for indepen‐ dent-minded people, capable of rejecting a herd mentality.

"I do expect it'll move rather quickly," Cohen said, predicting a smoother pro‐ cess than some others do.

"[It'll take] a few days maybe a week on the out‐ side."

And then there's the trial. Prospective New York City juror Reed made her own predictions before entering the courthouse Monday to learn her assignment.

She says she thinks Trump stands an excellent chance of being elected pres‐ ident again. And she doesn't foresee a conviction here, saying she has little faith in the system.

"No, I don't," she said, be‐ fore being ushered by police into the courthouse. Motion‐ ing to the row of TV cameras, she said: "This - all of this it's just political theatre. It's theatre.

"But at least he will go through the process."

WATCH | Jury selection could take weeks: