Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Jury Selection Is Opening Act of Trump Circus Trial



It's the week the left has been anxiously awaiting, the all-new "trial of the century," at least until they can somehow manage to get former President Donald Trump into another courtroom and keep him off the campaign trail. Jury selection has begun for Trump's "hush money" trial in New York City. One of the biggest concerns for Trump's attorneys — and his supporters — has been, how Trump could receive a fair trial in a place like Manhattan, a veritable mecca of liberalism. Well, turns out, that jury selection is just the warm-up phase for what is sure to be a legal spectacle. And those who are concerned about a fair trial were spot on. 


If we are talking about fairness, we have to give props where props are due. New Yorkers are not holding back, at least many in the prospective jury pool. They admit they could not be impartial given their personal feelings about Trump. Some of the comments made by potential jurors show exactly why Trump attorneys are wary of a New York jury. More than half of the first group of 96 potential jurors have been dismissed. What may be the entire problem with this trial was stated by one potential juror when she said that she "doesn't know what this case is about at this point." You are not alone, ma'am. No one else does either. 

Trump's Second Day on Trial: 7 Jurors Seated, Several Struck for Social Media, Some Scolding and Smiling

Things started to get interesting as Trump's attorney, Todd Blanche, said he would conduct a test on potential jurors. He asked them about their opinions of Trump. One woman said that she had seen opinions on her social media pages that he "doesn’t treat females correctly." When asked if she could elaborate on those opinions, she said, "Honestly, I don’t really know the stories." Is this the "Harry Reid" principle at work? In 2012, former Senate Leader Harry Reid accused GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney of not paying his taxes for 10 years; the accusations were false. In a 2017 interview with CNN's Dana Bash, she asked Reid about the allegations, saying they had been called "McCarthyite." Reid's response, “Well, they can call it whatever they want. Romney didn’t win, did he?” All you have to do is get it out there. Media 1, Trump 0. 


Surprisingly, several jurors stated they thought that Trump was simply someone who spoke his mind. One woman said that while she had not been following the case closely, she stated to Blanche that she was aware that he was just trying to make sure his client "got a fair shake,' and stated "I understand your dilemma. I truly do." 

But a former Trump defense attorney has an interesting take on who could potentially be a "dangerous juror" and who would not. During an appearance on CNN on Monday, Bill Brennan recalled defending Donald Trump in 2022 on a tax fraud case against the Trump Organization. During jury selection, Brennan questioned a woman, obviously an immigrant by her Irish accent, if she had any strong feelings about Trump and, if so, whether they would affect her ability to be impartial. At first, the woman was hesitant to state her feelings but eventually did not hold back, saying, "Oh, I despise that man." When Brennan kiddingly told her, "Oh, come on, don’t sugarcoat things for me. Speak your mind," the woman blurted out, "Oh, Speak me mind? I hate him!’” Brennan did not consider the woman "dangerous" because she answered questions. He says the potential jurors attorneys should be worried about are the ones who, when asked, say they have no feelings about Trump or who say, "No, fine, put me in, I’ll be great." He added, "That’s the juror that I worry about. The juror who has some type of ulterior motive to get on that case to settle a score.”

Which brings us to the "questionnaire." Prospective jurors were given a 42-question survey asking about such things as group affiliations, their feelings about law enforcement, and where they get their news. In Manhattan, where Trump got just 14.5 percent of the vote in 2020, does anyone think there will be a lot of deviation here?

Jury selection could take up to two weeks, though given its current pace, it may wrap up more quickly than originally anticipated. We can only imagine what the rest of the Bigtop will have in store.




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