From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell in the courthouse
Updated 10:14 a.m. ET, April 20, 2024
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8:55 a.m. ET, April 19, 2024
What we know about the 12-person jury that was seated yesterday
From CNN's Lauren del Valle, Annette Choi and Matt Stiles
A full 12-person jury has been selected for Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial. The panel is comprised of seven men and five women. One alternate, a woman, was also selected.
Here’s what to know about the jurors:
Juror 1 - Foreperson
Works in sales and has some college education
Originally from Ireland
Married with no children
Gets news from The New York Times, Daily Mail and sometimes Fox News and MSNBC
Juror 2
Investment banker with a master's degree
Lives with wife and doesn't have children
Follows Trump's TruthSocial posts and Michael Cohen on X
Seen quotes from Trump's book "Trump: The Art of The Deal"
Juror 3
Corporate lawyer
Originally from Oregon
Not married and doesn’t have children
Gets news from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Google
From CNN's Lauren del Valle, Jhasua Razo and Gillian Roberts
Former President Donald Trump’s first criminal trial is expected to take six to eight weeks from start to finish.
This trial, related to a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016, is the first of four ongoing criminal cases that are expected to head to trial for the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee.
Read more about the stages of the case, and what they mean here.
8:53 a.m. ET, April 19, 2024
Trump is on his way to court
Former President Donald Trump departs Trump Tower on Friday in New York. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump's motorcade is en route to the Manhattan courthouse where jury selection will continue for his hush money criminal trial.
8:20 a.m. ET, April 19, 2024
Here's what is expected to happen in court today as the search for the remaining alternates continues
From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell
Another busy day of court activity is ahead in former President Donald Trump's historic hush money criminal trial. Catch up on what is expected to unfold in court Friday:
There are 22 prospective jurors who have yet to go through the questionnaire process from the second panel. Judge Juan Merchan will begin with them to try to fill out a slate of five additional alternate jurors, although the judge noted he may change that number.
Donald Trump’s attorneys and the district attorney’s office also will get additional peremptory challenges for the alternate jurors. Neither used a challenge for the first alternate chosen on Thursday.
If jury selection wraps up quickly enough Friday, Merchan said he will hold what’s called a Sandoval hearing Friday afternoon, where they will discuss what in Trump’s legal history can be used to try to impeach him if he chooses to testify.
Prosecutors say in filings they’ll ask the former president about the recent verdicts against him, including the recent civil fraud trial and the E. Jean Carroll defamation case.
But if a sufficient number of alternates cannot be chosen out of the 22, Merchan has teed up an additional panel of 96 jurors, who were sworn in Thursday and told to return on Friday – that’s likely the final pool of people who will make up the Trump hush money trial jury.
Former President Donald Trump was first indicted in March 2023 by the Manhattan district attorney on state charges related to a hush money payment to an adult film star in 2016.
Here's a look at the topics of the questions prospective alternate jurors could be asked
Judge Juan Merchan last week released the questionnaire that is being presented to potential jurors in court. It contains multiple questions that could signal political views to the lawyers on both sides.
A panel of 12 New Yorkers and six alternates need to be seated to decide whether to convict Donald Trump. The 12-person jury and one alternate are empaneled so far.
Here's a look at some of the topics of the questions:
News consumption
Affiliations with groups like the Proud Boys, QAnon and Antifa.
Whether prospective jurors or anyone in their circle attended a Trump rally or an anti-Trump event.
If they’ve ever read books or listened to podcasts from Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and a key witness for the district attorney, or if they’ve read any of Trump’s own books.
Those in the jury pool will also be asked if they have views on whether a former president can be charged in state court and how Trump is being treated in this case.
The questions are being used for the judge to strike jurors at the outset, if they don’t believe they can render a verdict fairly. They are also being used by lawyers for both sides to strike jurors for any reason — a key part of the jury selection process.
8:10 a.m. ET, April 19, 2024
Catch up on what happened in court on the 3rd day of Trump’s hush money trial
From CNN staff
Former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 18. Jeenah Moon/Pool/Reuters
A jury of 12 New Yorkers was seated in former President Donald Trump’s historic hush money trial in Manhattan. It comes after two empaneled jurors were dismissed Thursday morning and seven new jurors were chosen by the afternoon.
The jury is made up of seven men and five women.
Now, the court is working to pick up to six alternates. One has been seated so far. Judge Juan Merchan said he is hopeful the process will be finished on Friday.
Here’s what to know to get up to speed:
Seated jurors dismissed:
One juror was dismissed after expressing concerns that part of her identity was made public by the media.The judge then ruled the media cannot publish jurors’ answers to questions about their current or former employers.
A second empaneled juror was excused after prosecutorsquestioned the truthfulness of the answers he gave to questions from attorneys on Tuesday.
Lawyers continue their questioning:
The day started with a panel of 96 potential jurors. That was narrowed down to 38 after half were quickly dismissed for saying they could not be fair or impartial and another nine were dismissed because of another conflict. An additional prospective juror was dismissed after answering the questionnaire.
18 jurors then faced additional questioning from lawyers in the jury box.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass started by asking them if they feel that prosecutors have more to prove "because the defendant is Donald Trump?" He also asked the potential jurors to look at Trump and ensure they can look him in the eye and say "guilty" if their case is proven.
Trump attorney Susan Necheles asked whether anyone has a problem with the notion that if "two witnesses get on this witness stand and say, under oath, two diametrically opposed things," that somebody is lying. She also asked one potential juror directly about whether she posted on social media about Trump.
Jurors excused for cause:
Once lawyers were done with their questioning, each side brought up challenges to get some potential jurors dismissed for cause — and not have to use their peremptory strikes.
The judge dismissed two potential jurors for cause. One admitted she did not think she could be fair and another had negative social media posts about Trump.
The judge denied a request to dismiss a potential juror who said she knew Necheles.
Both the prosecution and the defense used all of their peremptory strikes.
Trump in court: The former president turned his chair and faced the jury box while lawyers asked questions. He craned his neck to look at the jury pool as several prospective jurors said they disagreed with Trump’s policies or generally disliked him.
Friday: Merchan swore in a new panel of potential jurors who will return on Friday when the selection of alternates will continue.
Gag order: Meanwhile, prosecutors say Trump violated his gag order seven more times, pointing to posts online and calling the situation "ridiculous." The order was issued to stop Trump from making statements about witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff, or the family members of prosecutors and court staff in late March. Merchan will have a hearing about the matter next Tuesday.
7:55 a.m. ET, April 19, 2024
Trump’s lawyers request judge limits instructions on Access Hollywood tape and anticipated witness testimony
From CNN’s Kara Scannell
Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers have issued two pre-motion letters in the hush money criminal trial asking Judge Juan Merchan to limit his instructions to the jury to advise they cannot infer from the admissions of others that Trump is guilty.
In one pre-motion letter, Trump’s lawyers on Wednesday requested a limiting instruction over anticipated testimony from Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen regarding his guilty plea for breaking campaign finance laws.
Trump’s lawyers said they would like the judge to instruct the jury by saying, “Mr. Cohen’s guilty plea is not evidence of the defendant’s guilt, and you may not consider it in determining whether the People have proven any of the elements of the charges.”
Cohen's credibility is expected to be one of the biggest issues for the jury in this case. Trump's attorneys are planning to try to discredit Cohen, who is a central witness for the prosecution.
The pre-motion letter requests a similar limiting instruction over anticipated testimony from the-then chairman of American Media Inc., David Pecker, who allegedly helped broker the deal with Stormy Daniels. Pecker has been granted immunity in exchange for his testimony and AMI signed a non-prosecution agreement with prosecutors.
A second pre-motion letter Wednesday requested further argument regarding the admissibility of the contents of the so-called Access Hollywood tape. Trump is asking that it either be precluded or that the judge reserve his ruling on its admissibility until after Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal testify.
8:55 a.m. ET, April 19, 2024
A full jury was set for Trump's hush money case on Thursday
From CNN's Matt Meyer
The full 12-person jury for Donald Trump's hush money criminal trial was seated Thursday, with Judge Juan Merchan overseeing a productive afternoon despite starting the day with two previously empaneled jurors getting dismissed.
Here's a recap of what happened yesterday:
We started the day with seven seated jurors with the goal of empaneling 12 jurors overall and likely six alternates.
Instead, the process moved backward, with one seated juror excused over concerns that her identity was being shared publicly, and another dismissed after the prosecution raised questions about the truthfulness of his answers to screening questions (the judge did not publicly specify why the juror was excused).
But the court made up ground, whittling down a batch of 96 potential jurors through questions about scheduling conflicts and the potential jurors' ability to impartially judge the case. In the end, seven new jurors were selected.
Each side raised flags about potential jury members, requesting their dismissal without cause.Prosecutors and Trump's attorneys started jury selection with 10 strikes, and used all the ones they had remaining in the process of filling the jury.
Each side also had the ability to request a juror be dismissed for cause, which would not expend one of their limited strikes but required the approval of Merchan. At least one potential jury member was dismissed for cause at the request of Trump's team.
