After three days, all 12 jurors have been seated for Donald Trump’s hush-money trial — seven men and five women — in addition to one alternate, following a shakeup that occurred after two potential jurors were dismissed earlier in the day.
According to a report from Axios, one juror was excused "after prosecutors said they found a news article showing that someone with the same name as his juror had previously 'been arrested in Westchester for tearing down political advertisements.' And the other was let go after telling the judge "she 'definitely has concerns now' about what has been publicly reported about her, noting that some of her friends, colleagues and family indicated that she had been identified as a possible juror."
After being sworn in by Judge Merchan on Thursday, the seated jury was instructed to not discuss the case and were then escorted out of the courtroom, receiving stares from Trump, still seated at the defense table. Earlier in the day, Trump was called out for his disrespect towards the jury pool during the selection process, with a a pool reporter noting that "when the defense is introduced to the potential jurors seated in the audience, Trump does not stand up like his legal team does to turn and face them."
"In my over 20 years practicing criminal law, I have never observed a defendant refuse to stand and face the jury," comments former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti in a post to X (formerly Twitter.) "Any competent lawyer would tell their client that his fate is in the jury’s hands and they will watch everything he does.Trump’s disrespect for the jury is unwise."
