At present, seven New Yorkers have been selected to serve as jurors in the hush money case involving former President Trump, marking the first criminal case in U.S. history to prosecute a former president.
Starting from Monday afternoon, the judge, prosecutors, and Trump’s defense team conducted screening of the initial 96 potential jurors. They were required to answer a questionnaire covering various aspects such as their place of residence and reading habits of news.
Out of the initial 96 individuals, more than half admitted their inability to be fair and impartial, leading to their dismissal from the courtroom, which reflects the political divide in this trial.
Jurors participating in the trial remain anonymous to the media and the public, but the court reporters witnessing the jury selection process allow the public to know the general background of each juror.
A total of 12 jurors must be selected, along with at least 6 alternate jurors, and the trial is expected to last 6 to 8 weeks.
Here is the current list of selected jurors:
– Juror #1, Chief Juror: A man of Irish descent residing in West Harlem, working in sales and obtaining news from “The New York Times,” “Daily Mail,” Fox News, and MSNBC. He will serve as the jury foreman.
– Juror #2: A native New Yorker who has been an oncology nurse for 15 years. In her spare time, she enjoys being with family and friends, taking her dog to the park.
– Juror #3: An Asian middle-aged man living in Chelsea, originally from Oregon, working as a corporate lawyer.
– Juror #4: A middle-aged man born in Puerto Rico who has lived in the Lower East Side for over forty years. He describes himself as a self-employed individual with no leisure time for hobbies as his wife is a writer and his children are involved in sales and research.
– Juror #5: A young African American woman from Harlem, teaching English language and arts for eight years. She has never been married or had children, seeing herself as inherently creative.
– Juror #6: A Disney employee who is also a student, living with three roommates, unmarried and childless.
– Juror #7: Currently residing in the Upper East Side but originally from North Carolina. He works as a civil litigation lawyer, married with two sons. He obtains news from “The New York Times,” “The Wall Street Journal,” “New York Post,” “The Washington Post,” and WNYC and listens to podcasts like “SmartLess” and “Car Talk.”
The court will reconvene on Thursday to consider selecting the remaining jurors. The judge mentioned that this process may be completed by the end of the weekend.
He instructed the first group of jurors to return to the court next Monday and stated that proceedings would begin with opening statements on that day.