In a recent twist in Donald Trump's legal saga, the former president and his legal squad got the green light to peek into the private info of potential jurors in his New York criminal case. This move came after some jurors worried about their identities getting out.
Judge Juan Merchan sided with Trump's legal eagles, agreeing it was "necessary" for them to know the jurors' current and past employers. However, he made sure this info wouldn't go public, saying the press didn't need to know about it. The Manhattan District Attorney's office had proposed that jurors shouldn't answer two "most identifying" questions about their current and previous employers.
The jury selection process hit a snag when one of the already selected jurors, making it seven in total, dropped out, saying outside pressure made it tough for her to stay impartial. With her out, the count dropped to six. Merchan wasn't happy, noting, "We just lost what would have been a very good juror for this case."
Things didn't smooth out, as another juror from the initial seven came back to court on Thursday feeling "annoyed" by the amount of attention. He was also excused. By day's end, the jury was back up to 12 jurors and one alternate, with the aim to get the rest of the alternates on Friday so the trial can start as planned on Monday.
Trump's legal team wasn't thrilled with cutting the employer questions, arguing it wasn't fair to change the rules suddenly. Merchan agreed that knowing the employment details was crucial but realized too much info about jurors was becoming a headache for the trial. He decided jurors would still answer the employment questions, but those answers would be kept under wraps in the transcript.
Merchan had a word of caution for the press, reminding them to keep things anonymous, hinting at consequences if they didn't comply. He emphasized the need for an anonymous jury, urging reporters not to describe the jurors physically or by their accents to keep their identities under wraps.
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