2:54 PM ET April 15, 2024
Former U.S. attorney says this will be a tough jury for Trump
From CNN's Maureen Chaudhry
Brendan McDiarmid/Reuters
CNN legal analysts said the jury selection process for the hush-money trial against former President Donald Trump would be tedious, and the accompanying questionnaire would be an important tool to eliminate potential bias.
“There's a lot of very typical questions about things like where you're from, but they don't include questions about who you voted for,” said CNN chief legal analyst Laura Coates.
Lawyers want to know jurors' views on the case and media sources, she noted. It can be very reflective of who the jurors are, their beliefs and political activism on certain issues, and it's not just about you, whether it's you or someone on the judge. 's actual circle also participates in pro-Trump or anti-Trump rallies. ”
Potential jurors can be removed based on strikes or challenges to answers to lengthy questionnaires. Each party to the case will also have the opportunity to remove 10 jurors based on peremptory challenges. That means jurors can be removed without any reason or explanation, said Elie Honig, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. CNN.
And finally, the big elephant in the room will be elections. “This is a tough jury group for Donald Trump,” Honig said. “This is a politically unfavorable jury group for Donald Trump,” Honig continued, noting that Trump received just 12.3% of the vote in Manhattan, New York County, in 2020. The thing is, we don't have the Bronx, we don't have Queens, we don't have Staten Island, we don't have Brooklyn. This is just Manhattan and Manhattan.”