Luck to play huge role in final shape of jury chosen in Trump hush money trial

Lawyers allowed trawl social media for signs of bias

When prospective New York City jurors gather for Donald Trump’s hush money trial today, it may be tough to find ones who don’t have an opinion about the brash businessman-turned-politician.

They will be questioned by lawyers for the Republican presidential candidate and the state of New York seeking to uncover biases and possible political agendas before empanelling 12 jurors to hear what could be the only criminal case Trump faces before the November US election.

“There is almost nobody in New York who doesn’t have an opinion about Donald Trump,” said trial lawyer Paul Applebaum, who is not involved in the case. “A lot of people think he’s either Satan incarnate or the second coming of Jesus.”

But even if Trump is a polarising figure and Manhattan is a Democratic stronghold, having an opinion will not be enough to disqualify a potential juror. Justice Juan Merchan, overseeing the case, has indicated he will not disqualify people based solely on whether they lean Republican or Democratic.

“Political orientation is not necessarily a cause for bias,” said jury consultant Melissa Gomez of IMS Legal Strategies. “But if it’s so strong that the person will be motivated to convict, that’s a problem.”

At a press conference on Friday, Mr Trump was asked about the start of his trial. “Jury selection is largely luck. It depends who you get,” he said.

The criminal case is one of four Mr Trump faces and the first ever for a past or present US president. While a conviction would not bar Mr Trump from retaking office should he defeat Democratic President Joe Biden, a Reuters/ Ipsos poll last week showed it could be a critical factor for voters.

Some 64pc of registered voters described the charges as at least “somewhat serious”, compared to 34pc who said the charges lacked seriousness.

Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to falsifying business records to cover up a sexual encounter that porn star Stormy Daniels says they had. Mr Trump denies having had the encounter with Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Jury selection is likely to take roughly a week in a case expected to last six to eight weeks. Potential jurors are randomly selected from voter rolls and other state records.

There are more than a dozen questions in an initial jury questionnaire.

The questions include whether prospective jurors have attended a rally or campaign event for Mr Trump, whether they follow Mr Trump on social media and whether they have feelings about how he has been treated in the hush money case.

Other questions cover broader topics such as people’s professions, educational backgrounds and hobbies. Potential jurors will also be asked where they get their news and whether they have ever supported extremist groups.

Lawyers will winnow the jury pool down in a process known as voir dire. Questioning will taken place in open court, but jurors will be able to speak to the lawyers and judge separately if they want to keep certain answers private.

Mr Merchan has ruled the jury pool will remain anonymous. But prosecutors, defencelawyersandjuryconsultantswill be given the names of potential jurors, allowing them trawl the internet and social media for signs of potential bias.

The prosecution and defence will each be able to disqualify 10 people without giving a reason. To dismiss any other potential juror, lawyers must convince Mr Merchan there is reason to believe they cannot be impartial.

Mr Trump’s lawyers sought to move the case to a different jurisdiction, arguing he could not get a fair trial in Manhattan, where Mr Biden defeated Mr Trump with nearly 85pc of the vote in the 2020 election. An appeals court on April 8 denied Trump’s bid to delay the trial.

Both sides will need to be on guard for stealth jurors who have an agenda but pretend to be neutral.

Mr Trump’s camp would probably target less educated, working-class men who had negative views of law enforcement and got their news from more conservative media outlets, experts said. Conversely, prosecutors will likely search for people with college degrees, women and white collar jobs who get their news from more liberal news outlets, according to experts.

‘But jury selection ultimately involves a bit of luck,’ Mr Applebaum said.