Why picking a jury in Trump’s hush-money trial is high-stakes — and a big challenge | CNN Politics

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

70% : Once a jury is selected, they will be able to watch Trump throughout the duration of the trial, which is expected to last six weeks.
64% : “In my world, witness demeanor is almost as important and sometimes more important than the actual witness testimony they offer,” he said.
60% : Trump took a keen interest in jury selection at the Carroll trial, turning behind him toward the jurors in the gallery behind him to watch as they responded to political questions.
59% : That prompted Kaplan to admonish Trump and warn him he could be removed if he continued to be disruptive — prompting the former president to respond that he would “love it” if the judge booted him from the trial.
50% : When Kaplan asked jurors a series of questions individually, Trump turned in his chair to watch each person speak.
49% : Beginning Monday, Trump will once again sit before a jury in New York, this time with even higher stakes.
47% : A unanimous verdict is required for conviction “If you’re Trump, you’d love an acquittal, but if you can’t get an acquittal, you’d want them to hang, because then there’s no conviction before the election,” Agnifilo said.
45% : When the jury was excused at a break, Carroll’s lawyers told the judge what Trump was saying and said they believed it was audible to the jury.
43% : In the 2020 election, Manhattan voters chose President Joe Biden over Trump 86% to 12%.
37% : The presumptive Republican 2024 nominee will have plenty of incentive to make an impression on both the jury deciding his guilt or innocence and the broader public, whose opinion of the first criminal trial of a former president in US history could be a determining factor in whether Trump is reelected in November.
37% : Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a CNN legal analyst and former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office, said that Trump’s attorneys will be looking for jurors who are sympathetic to Trump, of course — but also for anyone who might be an “independent thinker,” willing to stand alone and let a jury hang.
37% : It took longer for the judge to negotiate Trump’s testimony outside the jury’s view — “I want to know everything he is going to say,” Kaplan told Trump’s attorney — than the three minutes Trump spent on the stand.
36% : Elie Honig, a CNN senior legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor, warned that Merchan could face a “much more dynamic and unpredictable situation” with Trump in front of the jury for the upcoming hush money trial.
35% : CNN  —  Three months ago, Donald Trump took the stand before a jury of nine in a New York courtroom without his typical bombast or ranting.
35% : The political makeup of Manhattan also doesn’t mean Trump won’t have any supporters among the jury pool.
35% : While the jury was present, Kaplan tried to keep a tight rein on Trump as well as all of the attorneys involved.
33% : That means they can see the former president’s reaction to the district attorney’s allegations, to witness testimony from Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, and will potentially see him testify and face questions from the district attorney’s office, should Trump choose to testify.
27% : The following day, however, Trump found a way to protest the trial with the jury’s eyes on him, storming out during the closing argument delivered by Carroll’s lawyer.
27% : Merchan warned Trump in his gag order that the former president can’t make public comments or direct anyone else to make public comments about jurors involved in the proceedings.
24% : That same afternoon, the jury returned an $83.3 million verdict against Trump for defaming Carroll — a massive figure that the columnist’s attorneys attribute in part to Trump’s protest.
24% : 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.
23% : “I mean, our whole case was about the fact that Donald Trump is unable to follow the law, unable to follow the rules.
23% : “People are going to have an opinion about Trump.
21% : One source close to Trump said there is worry that some prospective jurors may have ulterior motives for wanting to be involved in the former president’s trial.
21% : But just having political views about Trump, for or against, won’t be a reason for potential jurors to be dismissed.
19% : The hush-money case is the first of four criminal trials Trump will potentially face — and potentially the only one before the 2024 election, even as Trump has campaigned in part on fusing his legal peril with his bid for the White House.

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